STUDIES  ON  SLAVERY, 


fin  ISasg 


COMPILED  INTO  EIGHT   STUDIES,  AND  SUBDIVIDED  INTO 

SHORT  LESSONS  FOR  THE  CONVENIENCE 

OF  READERS. 


BY  JOHN  FLETCHER, 


OF   LOUISIANA. 


FIFTH   THOUSAND. 


NATCHEZ: 
PUBLISHED  BY  JACKSON  WARNER. 

CHARLESTON:  McCARTER  &  ALLEN. NEW  ORLEANS:  JOHN  BALL. 

PHILADELPHIA:  THOMAS,  COWPERTHWAIT  &  CO. 

1852. 


ENTERED  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1851,  by 

JACKSON    WARNER, 
in  th<-  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District  of  Mississippi. 


PRINTED  BY  SMITH  &  PETERS, 

Franklin  Buildings,  Sixth  Street  below  Arch,  Philadelphia. 


PUBLISHER'S    PREFACE. 


THIS  is  a  legitimate  topic  of  general  interest,  and  it  as 
sumes  a  preponderating  importance  to  the  people  of  the 
Southern  American  States,  when  the  fact  is  taken  into 
consideration  that  a  general  league  against  the  institution 
of  African  slavery  has  been  entered  into  and  consummated 
between  most  of  the  civilized  nations  of  the  earth,  and 
public  opinion  in  many  of  the  sister  States  of  our  own 
National  Union  has  taken  the  same  direction.  The  result 
is,  to  have  arraigned  the  slaveholding  States  before  the 
mighty  bar  of  public  opinion,  on  the  charge  of  holding,  as 
property,  more  than  ten  hundred  millions  of  dollars'  worth 
of  what  does  not  belong  to  them,  which  is  and  never  can  be 
the  property  of  man ;  and  this  charge  embraces,  within  its 
scope,  the  crimes  of  theft,  robbery,  rapine,  and  cruelty. 

The  time  has  come  when  the  South  must  enter  her  plea 
of  defence,  not  because  the  accusers  are  foreign  nations, 
of  which  it  may  justly  be  said,  before  their  charges  are 
entertained,  "  Physician,  heal  thyself,"  but  because  our 
accusers  are  among  our  own  brethren,  bound  to  us  by  free 
dom's  holiest  associations  and  religion's  most  sacred  ties. 

The  author  of  the  "  Studies  on  Slavery"  has  the  double 
advantage  of  a  full  comprehension  of  the  subject  both  in 
its  Northern  and  Southern  aspect.  Born  and  educated  in 
the  former,  and  qualified  by  a  long  residence  in  the  latter 
section  of  our  Union,  he  is  amply  qualified  to  weigh  the 
prejudices,  the  teachings,  and  the  arguments  of  the  one., 


iv  PUBLISHER'S    PREFACE. 


against  the  facts,  the  justifications,  the  religious  and  po 
litical  sanctions  of  the  other. 

Mr.  Fletcher  has  not  only  marshalled  into  his  line  of 
impregnable  defence  the  mandates  and  sanctions  of  the 
Sacred  Writings  concerning  the  slave  institutions,  but  he 
lias  drawn  powerful  auxiliaries  from  the  sources  of  ancient 
history.  His  exegesis  of  biblical  passages,  in  the  original 
languages  in  which  they  were  communicated  by  inspiration 
to  the  world,  shows  his  sound  scholarship,  as  well  as  his 
reverence  of  the  literal  sense  and  specific  meaning  of  God's 
holy  and  unimpeachable  standard  and  rule  of  life  and 
action. 

The  author  has  also  analyzed  the  fountain  of  Moral 
Philosophy,  and  detected  the  bitter  waters  of  error  so  in 
dustriously  infused  by  the  eloquent  and  magical  pens  of 
such  writers  as  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  Dr.  Paley,  Dr.  Chan- 
ning,  Dr.  Wayland,  Mr.  Barnes,  and  others.  He  has  con 
fined  himself  to  the  moral  and  ethical  bearings  of  the 
question,  scarcely  touching  upon  its  political  aspects, — a 
^•course  calculated  to  render  the  book  far  more  useful  to  the 
dispassionate  seekers  after  truth,  who  may  belong  to  dif 
ferent  political  sects. 

Neither  time  nor  labour  has  been  spared  in  the  author 
ship  of  the  work ;  and  it  is  believed  that,  while  it  is  written 
with  candour  and  calmness,  it  will  be  received  by  the 
people  of  the  North  as  well  as  of  the  South  as  a  sincere 
and  enlightened  endeavour  to  seek  for  truth,  and  thus  allay 
the  tumultuous  and  disorganizing  fanaticism  of  those  who 
have  not  had  opportunity  to  study  the  subject,  and  are 
incapable  of  acting  upon  it  with  understanding  and  true 
decision. 


PROEMIAL. 


PHILOSOPHY  knows  no  obligation  that  binds  one  man  to 
another  without  an  equivalent.  If  one  man  could  be  sub 
jected  to  another,  who  is  not  bound  to  render  any  thing  in 
return,  it  would  be  subversive  to  good  morals  and  political 
justice.  Such  a  relation  cannot  exist,  only  so  far  as  to  reach 
the  immediate  death  of  the  subjected.  But  it  has  been  the 
error  of  some  good  men  to  suppose  that  slavery  presented 
such  a  case.  It  has  been  their  misfortune  also  to  receive 
the  following  succedaneums  as  axioms  in  the  search  for 
truth:— 

"  All  men  are  born  equal." 

"  The  rights  of  men  are  inalienable." 

"  No  man  has  power  to  alienate  a  natural  right." 

"  No  man  can  become  property." 

"  No  man  can  own  property  in  another." 

"  The  conscience  is  a  distinct  mental  faculty." 

"  The  conscience  infallibly  distinguishes  between  right 
and  wrong." 

"  No  man  is  under  any  obligation  to  obey  any  law  when 
his  conscience  dictates  it  to  be  wrong." 

"  The  conscience  empowers  any  man  to  nullify  any  law ; 
because  the  conscience  is  a  part  and  parcel  of  the  Divine 
mind." 


vi  PROEMIAL. 


u  Slavery  is  wholly  founded  on  force." 

"  Slavery  originates  in  the  power  of  the  strong  over  the, 
weak." 

"  Slavery  disqualifies  a  man  to  fulfil  the  great  object  of 
his  being." 

"  The  doctrines  of  the  Bible  forbid  slavery." 

"  There  is  no  word,  either  in  the  Old  or  the  New  Testa 
ment,  which  expresses  the  idea  of  slave  or  slavery." 

"  Slavery  places  its  subjects  beyond  moral  and  legal  ob 
ligation  :  therefore,  it  can  never  be  a  legal  or  moral  rela 
tion." 

"  Slavery  is  inconsistent  with  the  moral  nature  of  man." 

"  To  hold  in  slavery  is  inconsistent  with  the  present  state 
of  morals  and  religion." 

"  Slavery  is  contrary  to  the  will  of  God." 

"  No  man  can  hold  a  slave,  and  be  a  Christian." 

Averments  of  this  order  are  quite  numerous.  Fanatics 
receive  them ;  and  some  others  do  not  distinguish  them  from 
truths. 

At  any  age,  and  in  any  country,  where  such  errors  are 
generally  adopted,  and  become  the  rules  of  political  action, 
morals  and  religion  are  always  in  commotion,  and  in  danger 
of  shipwreck :  for,  although,  where  man  has  only  ap 
proached  so  far  towards  civilization  that  even  the  enlight 
ened  can  merely  perceive  them  as  rudimental,  yet  the  great 
principles  that  influence  human  life,  morality  and  religion, 
are,  everywhere,  and  always  have  been  the  same. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 


STUDY  I. 

LESSON  I.— Wayland's  definition  of  moral  law,  page  7  to  8;  sin  the  antecedent  of  slavery, 
9;  the  abuse  of  slavery  a  sin,  10. 

>LESSON  II.—  Wayland  on  the  elements  of  consciousness,  10  to  11  j  the  degeneracy  of  races, 
and  slavery  as  the  scriptural  means  of  reclamation,  12,-  object  of  punishment,  13. 

LESSON  III.— Wayland  on  conscience  as  a  distinct  faculty,  14, 15 ;  Channing,  Barnes,  and 
abolitionists  generally  on  the  same,  16,  17,  18. 

LESSON  IV.— Wayland  on  conscience  as  an  independent  faculty  derived  from  Shaftesbury, 
Hutchinson,  and  Reid,  18;  combated  by  Archbishop  Seeker,  19;  argument  that  con 
science  is  neither  a  distinct  faculty  nor  infallible,  20  to  23. 

>  LESSON  V.— Wayland's  doctrine,  that  slavery  sacrifices  the  slave's  eternal  happiness  to 
the  master's  temporal,  refuted,  23  to  25;  the  master's  interest  and  the  slave's  moral  ¥ 
improvement  identical,  26,  27. 

LESSON  VI.— Wayland's  argument,  that  slavery  is  at  variance  with  the  laws  of  God,  ex 
amined,  27 ;  its  connection  with  productive  labour  and  national  wealth  considered,  28 
to  32  ;  Sismondi's  theory  of  labour  and  capital,  32 ;  Wayland  on  slavery  as  impoverish 
ing  soil  refuted,  33,  34. 

LESSON  VIL— Wayland's  doctrine,  that  the  moral  principles  of  the  Bible  are  opposed  to 
slavery,  refuted,  34,  35  ;  Seeker's  authority,  36;  Wayland  on  slavery  as  a  prohibition 
of  gospel  privileges  and  matrimony  controverted,  37  to  40;  Luther  and  Melancthon 
quoted,  39;  African  practice  in  regard  to  matrimony,  40;  interest  of  masters  to  pro 
mote  permanent  marriages  among  their  slaves,  40  to  42. 

LESSON  VIIL— Wayland,  Paley,  Channing,  and  Barnes  on  the  opinion  that  the  sacred 
writers  abstained  from  condemning  slavery  on  motives  of  policy,  43  to  47. 

LESSON  IX.-Wayland's  doubts,  caused  by  Prof.  Taylor,  47  to  50;  Wayland's  assertion, 
that  the  inculcation  of  the  duties  of  slaves  is  no  sanction  of  slavery,  combated,  51,  52. 

LESSON  X.— Wayland's  assertion,  that  Scripture  is  opposed  to  slavery,  contrasted  with  the 
declarations  of  the  Bible,  53 ;  slavery  a  desirable  and  ardently  sought  condition  un 
der  certain  circumstances— historical  proofs,  54  to  57. 

LESSON  XI.— Dr.  Paley  on  slavery  and  the  laws  of  nature,  57  to  61. 

^LESSON  XII.— Paley  on  cruelty  as  an  argument  against  slavery,  62;  Lander's  testimony 
respecting  native  cruelty  in  Africa,  63;  Paley's  slander  on  Jesus  Christ  and  Paul  and 
Peter  repelled,  65  to  67. 

-^  LESSON  XIII.— Slavery  in  ancient  Britain,  67;  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson's  argument  against 
negro  slavery  analyzed,  and  overthrown  by  arguments  drawn  from  the  laws  of  nations 
and  the  laws  of  God,  68  to  82. 


•,  a 


via  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


STUDY  II. 

LESSON  I. — Relation  of  guardian  and  ward  a  Divine  institution,  83  to  85. 

—  LESSON  II. — Slavery  a  Divine  institution,  and  the  reason  why,  85  to  88. 

LESSON  III. — Slavery  the  school  of  adversity  to  reclaim  wicked  nations  and  individuals — 
Scripture  proofs,  89  to  91. 

LESSON  IV. — Albert  Barnes  on  the  slavery  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt  refuted,  92  to  96 ; . 
his  attempt  by  human  reason  to  determine  the  will  of  God,  97  to  99. 

LESSON  V. — Barnes's  examination  of  the  Scripture  argument  on  slavery,  and  the  scriptural 
account  of  slavery  in  the  days  of  Abraham,  contrasted,  99  to  109. 

—  LESSON  VI. — The  smiles  of  God  on  the  institution  of  slavery  proved  from  the  argument 

of  Barnes  against  it,  110  ;  ratio  of  slaves  to  whites,  and  the  relative  increase  in  the 
United  States,  111,  112. 

LESSON  VII. — The  interest  of  the  master  and  the  direct  laws  of  God  against  the  abuses 
of  slavery  coincident,  113,  114;  Barnes's  cure  for  slavery,  115. 

LESSON  VIII. — Barnes's  denial  that  Christ  ever  came  in  contact  with  slavery  compared 
with  scriptural  assertions,  116  to  119. 

LESSON  IX. — The  admission  of  Barnes  in  regard  to  slaves  escaping  to  the  Hebrew  coun 
try,  119 ;  his  assertion,  that  the  Hebrews  were  not  a  nation  of  slaveholders,  overthrown 
by  Scripture  testimony,  120,  121. 

11  LESSON  X. — Distribution  by  the  Hebrews  of  captives  taken  in  battle,  122,  123;  Greek  cus 
tom  in  regard  to  captives  made  in  war,  124 ;  proof-texts  from  the  Bible,  125. 

LESSON  XL— The  claim  of  Barnes  to  identity  with  the  African  race,  126 ;  his  views  on 
Paul's  injunction  to  sympathize  with  those  in  bonds  controverted,  127,  128. 

LESSON  XII. — Legend  of  Antioch,  Margarita,  and  the  Roman  Prgefect  Olybius,  128  to  133  ; 
song  of  the  slaves,  131,  132;  letter  of  Olybius  to  the  Emperor  Probus,  manufactured 
from  the  language  of  Mr.  Barnes,  133  to  135. 

LESSON  XIII. — Barnes's  admissions  of  the  existence  of  Hebrew  and  Roman  slavery,  136, 
137. 

LESSON  XIV. — The  denial  of  Barnes  that  slavery  cannot  be  defended  by  Bible  arguments, 
138 ;  its  influence  on  agriculture,  commerce,  arts,  and  the  African  slave  himself  con 
sidered,  idem;  Sedgjo,  the  African  slave  in  Louisiana,  139,140;  the  Periplus  of 
y  Hanno,  140,  141 ;  the  testimony  of  the  Landers  on  the  depravity  of  native  Africans, 

142  to  144;  the  Landers  made  slaves,  145;  various  historical  authorities  on  African 
and  Moorish  slavery,  145  to  155. 

LESSON  XV. — Authorities  to  prove  African  degradation  continued,  155  to  158;  slavery 
subservient  to  the  religious  conversion  of  African  slaves,  159,  160. 

LESSON  XVI. — Paul's  exhortations  to  slaves  considered,  161,  162;  God's  sentence  of  four 
hundred  years  of  slavery  upon  the  Hebrews,  163. 

LESSON  XVII. — The  assertion  of  Barnes,  that  a  slave  bought  with  money  had  compensa 
tion  commanded  to  be  paid  him  by  Scripture,  controverted,  163, 164;  Barnes's  declara 
tion  of  the  cunning  of  the  Apostles  in  not  condemning  slavery,  165,  166. 

LESSON  XVIII.— Argument  that  the  injunctions  of  the  Bible  upon  God's  ancient  people 
are  in  force  and  equally  binding  upon  Christians  now,  (Christians  are  the  heirs  of 
Abraham.;  166  to  16i). 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS.  ix 


LESSON  XIX. — Authorities  quoted  by  Barnes,  169;   numerous  quotations  from  Barnes  on 
slavery,  170  to  174. 

LESSON  XX. — Wayland's  assertion,  that,  if  the  New  Testament  authorized  slavery,  it  would 
be  the  greatest  of  curses,  adopted  by  Barnes,  174  to  176. 


STUDY  III. 

LESSON  I. — Works  of  Rev.  Dr.  Channing — his  opinion  that  the  worst  errors  may  arise  from 
religious  tendencies,  177,  178. 

LESSON  II. — Channing's  seven  arguments,  that  a  man  cannot  be  held  as  property,  exa 
mined,  178,  179;  his  doctrine  of  conscience  and  indestructible  rights,  180  to  182. 

LESSON  III. — Examination  of  Channing's  seven  arguments  continued,  183  to  188. 

LESSON  IV. — That  slavery,  disease,  and  death  are  necessary  effects  of  sin  proved  by  the 
chapter  of  curses,  (Deut.  xxviii.,)  188  to  193 ;  Channing's  standard  of  feeling  or  sense 
of  duty  controverted,  194,  195. 

LESSON  V. — Channing's  theory  of  man's  rights  and  his  consciousness  examined,  195,  196; 
-> argument  that  slavery  is  the  best  condition  for  the  African  race,  197  to  200;  criticism 
on  Channing's  use  of  the  words  nature,  conscience,  law  of  nature,  <fcc.,  200  to  204. 

LESSON  VI. — Channing's  position,  that  the  debasement  of  African  slavery  arises  from  tho 
enslavement  of  the  race  in  America,  controverted,  204  to  206;  its  influence  on  the 
master  race,  206,  207. 

LESSON  VII. — Channing's  views  of  slavery,  as  conducive  to  licentiousness  and  unrestrained 
cohabitation  between  masters  and  female  slaves,  examined,  207  to  211;  his  views  of 
the  quality  and  brotherhood  of  the  races,  212  to  214. 

LESSON  VIII. — Channing  on  the  relative  productiveness  of  free  and  slave  labour,  215 ; 
his  opinion  that  the  admission  of  slave  territory  was  just  cause  for  the  dissolution  of 
the  Union,  217,  218;  his  deference  to  the  opinion  of  Europe,  218;  labour  and  capital, 
the  political  influence  of  slavery,  219  to  221. 

LESSON  IX. — Channing's  views  of  the  scriptural  argument  in  favour  of  slavery  over 
thrown,  by  a  parallel  between  slavery  and  polygamy,  222  to  230. 

LESSON  X. — Channing  adopting  and  endorsing  Paley's  slander  on  the  integrity  of  Paul, 
230  to  232. 

LESSON  XL — Channing's  plan  of  emancipation  and  inflammatory  counsels  to  the  free 
States,  232  to  235. 

LESSON  XII. — The  zeal  of  abolitionism  not  according  to  knowledge,  235,  236;  Channing's 
~/    opinion  that  the  negro  is  one  of  the  best  races  of  the  human  family,  237;  Channing 
on  West  India  emancipation  and  Southern  character,  237  to  239. 

LESSON  XIII. — Sympathy  for  those  suffering  punishment  from  God,  for  sin,  considered, 
239  to  241 ;  the  deterioration  of  sin  the  inevitable  cause  of  slavery,  241  to  243. 

LESSON  XIV. — God's  government  of  the  universe,  and  his  declaration  of  the  right  oi 
man's  property  in  man,  243  to  246 ;  God's  blessing  on  the  slave-owners,  247,  248. 

LESSON  XV. — Ham's  intermarriage  with  the  race  of  Cain  the  cause  of  his  doom  and  that 
of  his  seed  to  perpetual  servitude,  248  to  250 ;  God  never  entails  a  curse  without  suf 
ficient  cause,  250,  251 ;  the  mark  on  Cain,  252  to  255. 

1 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


STUDY  IV. 

LESSON  L— Extracts  from  Bower,  256;  the  Treuga  Dei,  257,  258;  Bishop  England  quoted 
on  the  action  and  records  of  the  Church,  259,  260. 

LESSON  II. — Establishment  of  Christianity  by  law,  by  Constantino,  and  the  rise  of  Moham 
medanism,  261,  262;  the  schism  of  the  Greek  Church,  263,  264. 

LESSON  III. — Nature  swarming  with  life,  and  life  merging  in  distress  and  death,  264,  265  ; 
sin  the  cause  of  slavery,  and  the  latter  as  a  protection,  266,  267 ;  slavery  in  China,  269. 

LESSON  IV. — Liberty  of  less  value  than  life,  270;  the  Divine  grant  to  hold  slaves,  271. 

LESSON  V. — Early  church  acts  and  documents  approving  and  providing  for  slavery,  272  ; 
the  canons  and  the  constitutions  of  the  apostles,  272  to  274;  constitution  of  Antoninus 
Pius  respecting  cruelty  to  slaves,  275 ;  canons  of  the  Council  of  Nice  and  the  first 
appearance  of  abolitionism  in  the  world,  276,  277;  St.  Basil's  canonical  writings,  278. 

LESSON  VI. — The  invasion  of  Attila  and  the  Pontiff  Leo's  successful -intercession,  279, 
280;  Nero's  African  slaves,  and  the  white  slaves  of  the  Roman  Empire,  281. 

LESSON  VII. — Church  rescripts  for  the  freedom  of  slaves,  and  St.  Augustin's  mode  of 
manumission  in  Africa,  282,  283 ;  Pope  Leo's  letters,  forbidding  slaves  to  enter  the 
priesthood,  and  protecting  the  rights  of  masters,  284,  285 ;  barbarian  cruelty  to  slaves 
ameliorated  by  Christianity,  286,  287;  canons  of  the  Council  of  Agdle  on  slavery,  288  ; 
modes  of  becoming  slaves,  289,  290. 

LESSON  VIII. — Muratori  on  the  manumission  of  slaves  in  Rome,  291;  colonial  and  con 
ditional  slaves,  292 ;  arming  of  slaves  in  defence  of  Rome  and  the  glutting  of  the 
slave-markets  of  the  world,  293 ;  canons  of  the  Fourth  Council  of  Orleans,  294,  295  ; 
ditto  Fifth  Council  of  Orleans,  296  to  299. 

LESSON  IX. — Bishop  England's  account  of  slavery  in  England  and  Ireland  in  remote 
ages,  299,  300 ;  Pope  Pelagius  and  the  canons  of  the  Third  Councils  of  Paris  and 
Braga,  301,  302  ,•  articles  of  the  Third  Council  of  Toledo,  302,  303. 

LESSON  X. — The  venerable  Bede's  account  of  the  slave-trade  of  England,  A.  D.  577,  304 
to  306;  Pope  Gregory's  purchase  of  British  youth,  306,  307;  Gregory's  pastoral  ad 
monitions  and  epistles,  308  to  311. 

LESSON  XL— Constantine's  edict  that  none  but  Christians  could  hold  slaves,  212,  213 ; 
Gregory's  letter  to  the  Praefect  of  Sicily,  313  to  315;  canons  of  the  Fourth  Councils 
of  Orleans  and  Macon,  315,  316;  Gregory  to  the  Bishop  of  Luna,  and  the  laws  of  the 
empire  on  slavery,  317,  318. 

LESSON  XII.— Gregory  to  the  Bishop  of  Naples,  319,  320;  the  same  to  the  Bishop  of  Ca 
tania,  321. 

LESSON  XIII. — Justinian's  law  to  protect  debtors  against  slavery,  323  ;  Gregory's  letters 
about  a  Syrian  deeply  in  debt,  322 ;  his  letter  of  emancipation  to  Montana  and 
Thomas,  324,  325;  Justinian's  law  of  marriage  between  slaves  and  persons  on  differ 
ent  estates,  327,  328;  Gregory's  letter  on  the  same  subject,  329:  his  letter  to  tho 
Bishop  of  Syracuse  on  the  same,  330,  331. 

LESSON  XIV. — Gregory's  deed  of  gift  conveying  the  slave  boy  Acorimus  to  Theodore  tho 
counsellor,  331,  332 ;  his  letter  about  a  slave  to  the  Proctor  Bonitus,  333  :  his  docu 
ment  to  reclaim  runaway  slaves,  333,  334 ;  his  various  letters  concerning  slaves  and 
the  purchase  of  Barbary  slaves,  334  to  336. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS.  xi 

LESSON  XV.— Canons  of  the  Councils  of  Toledo  and  Saragossa,  336  to  339;  laws  of  Ina, 
king  of  the  West  Saxons,  and  the  judgments  of  Withred,  340  to  343. 

LESSON  XVI.— The  canons  of  Theodore,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  King  Pepin,  Council 
of  Bavaria,  Pope  Adrian  and  Charlemagne,  343  to  349 ;  canon  of  the  Council  of  Frank 
fort,  349,  350. 

LESSON  XVII.— Laws  of  Charlemagne  on  slavery,  350  to  353 ;  canons  of  the  Council  of 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  353  ;  capitulary  of  the  Emperor  Lotharius,  353  to  355. 

LESSON  XVIII. Unconnected  facts  bearing  on  ancient  slavery;  prostitutes  made  slaves ;     < 

Sclavonian  bondage;  persecution  of  the  Knights  Templars,  355  to  360. 

LESSON  XIX. — Derivation  of  the  word  war ;  Divine  authority  for  wars,  361  to  365;  the 
church  claiming  the  right  to  declare  offensive  war  under  two  circumstances,  365 ;  bull 
of  Pope  Gregory  XI.  against  the  Florentines,  366,  367;  Papal  bulls  against  the  Ve- 
nitians  and  Henry  VIII.  of  England,  367  to  369 ;  the  American  colonies  at  New 
Haven  decreeing  the  Indian  tribes  to  slavery,  369,  370. 

LESSON  XX.— Ancient  piracy  and  pirates,  370,  371 ;  rise  of  the  Vandals,  Goths,  Huns, 
and  Tartars,  372 ;  the  Northmen,  373  to  379. 

LESSON  XXL— Condition  of  slavery  in  Europe,  379  to  381. 

LESSON  XXII.— Origin  of  the  Sclavonians,  381;  the  descent  of  the  Arabs  and  Moors, 

383,  384. 
LESSON  XXIII. — Africans  generally  slaves  in  their  native  country,  384 ;  African  slavery 

to  the  Shemitic  races  foretold  by  prophecy,  385,  386 ;  sketch  of  the  life,  doctrines,  and 

conquests  of  Mohammed  and  his  successors,  386  to  390. 

LESSON  XXIV.— Slavery  introduced  into  the  world  as  a  mercy  in  favour  of  life,  390 ;  duty  v 
and  interest  combine  to  incite  the  master  to  promote  religion  and  good  morals  in  the  , 
slave,  391 ;  slavery  commanded  by  reason  and  the  laws  of  nature,  392. 


STUDY  V. 

LESSON  I.— Faith  and  observance  of  facts  in  the  moral  world  the  true  modes  of  learning 

God's  will,  393. 
LESSON  II.— The  works  of  creation  proofs  of  the  Creator,  394  to  398. 

LESSON  III. — The  question  of  the  admission  of  evil  into  the  economy  of  God's  govern 
ment  on  earth,  and  a  denial  that  all  men  are  born  equals,  398,  399 ;  the  five  races  of 
the  human  family,  and  the  moral  necessity  of  command  in  some  and  subordinatiou 
in  others,  399  to  402. 

LESSON  IV. — Intellect  correspondent  to  organization,  403 ;  inquiry  into  the  nature  of  in 
stinct  by  various  philosophers,  403  to  405;  inexorable  inequality  of  human  condition 
in  this  world  and  the  next,  406  to  408. 

LESSON  V. — The  moral  duty  of  loving  our  species  denned,  409. 

LESSON  VI. — Men  not  equal  physically,  religiously,  mentally,  morally,  or  politically,  410. 

LESSON  VII.— Justice  and  the  rules  of  Christianity  identical  and  inseparable,  411,  412. 

LESSON  VIII. — The  golden  rule  considered  in  relation  to  slavery,  413  to  416. 

LESSON  IX. The  unchangeableness  of  God,  and  human  misery  caused  by  a  general  rebel 
lion  against  his  laws,  417  to  420. 

LESSON  X. — Christianity  incompatible  with  savage  life,  420,  421. 


xii  TABLE    OP    CONTENTS. 

LESSON  XL — Gradation  in  intellect  and  condition  no  impediment  to  Christianity,  421. 
LESSON  XII. — Christianity  and  slavery  not  antagonistic,  422. 
LESSON  XIII. — Christian  humility  inculcated,  423. 

LESSON  XIV. — The  radiance  of  Christian  hope  equalizes  all  variety  of  condition,  423,  424 ; 
sketch  of  the  slave's  prospect  of  immortal  happiness,  426  to  428. 

LESSON  XV.— The  feebleness  of  finite  conceptions  of  infinity,  428,  429 ;  hope  for  the  sub 
missive,  430,  431  ,•  the  requirement  of  God  that  the  strong  should  protect  the  weak,  432. 


STUDY  VI. 

LESSON  I. — Nature  of  sin;  the  primal  transgression,  433,  434. 
LESSON  II.— The  occupation  and  doom  of  Cain,  435,  436. 

LESSON  III. — The  mark  upon  Cain,  Mohammedan  traditions,  437,  438 ;  proof-texts  from 
Scripture,  439,  440. 

LESSON  IV. — The  punishment  of  Cain  did  not  lead  him  to  reformation,  440 ;  Asiatic  hy 
perbole  in  description,  441,  442. 

LESSON  V. — The  cause  of  Cain's  degradation  renewed  upon  Canaan,  and  his  masters 
named,  442,  443. 

LESSON  VI. — Proofs  that  the  descendants  of  Ham  inherited  the  curse  of  Cain,  and  were 
black,  as  also  were  the  Canaanites  whom  God's  chosen  people  either  exterminated 
or  enslaved,  443  to  447. 

LESSON  VII. — The  negro  lineage  of  Ham  established,  447  to  451. 

LESSON  VIII. — Signification  of  the  name  "Naamah"  in  Hebrew  and  Arabic,  451  to  455. 

LESSON  IX. — Variations  in  different  languages  of  the  names  of  Cain  and  Naamah,  also 
of  other  remarkable  words,  456  to  458. 

LESSON  X. — The  names  and  derivatives  of  the  words  Cain  and  Naamah  found  only  among 
the  descendants  of  Ham,  459  to  464. 

LESSON  XI. — Proofs  scriptural  and  historical  that  the  descendants  of  Ham  were  black, 
464  to  470. 

LESSON  XII.— Biblical  proofs  that  the  Canaanites  were  black,  471  to  473. 

LESSON  XIII. — Scriptural  testimony  respecting  the  colour  of  the  races  of  the  human 
family,  473  to  477. 

LESSON  XIV. — Jewish  wars  against  the  Ethiopian  race;  the  Philistines  black,  478,479; 
the  origin  of  these  wars  the  animosity  between  the  Shemitic  and  Hamitic  races,  480  ; 
difference  in  the  structure  of  the  bones  and  the  hair  between  the  antagonist  races, 
481;  intermarriage  with  the  Hamitic  by  the  Shemitic  race  a  cause  of  God's  anger, 
482 ;  the  dispersion  of  the  Canaanites  by  the  Jewish  conquest  of  Palestine,  482. 

LESSON  XV. — Derivation  and  train  of  thought  connected  with  the  word  Ham  in  the 
Shemitic  languages,  483  to  487;  the  Hebrew  personal  pronoun,  488  to  491;  origin  of 
the  word  Ethiopian,  493  to  495. 

LESSON  XVI. — Hebrew,  Syriac,  Greek,  and  Coptic  derivations  of  the  word  Ham,  495  to  502. 

LESSON  XVII. — Exegesis  of  the  thirty-third  chapter  of  Ecclesiasticus,  502  to  503 ;  the  pro 
vidence  of  God  manifested  in  placing  deteriorated  races  under  the  control  of  races 
less  debased,  504,  505. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS.  xiii 


STUDY  vn. 

LESSON  I. — Critical  examination  into  the  meaning'of  the  Greek  word  fov\o$,  douloa,  slave, 
as  used  both  by  the  sacred  and  classical  writers,  506. 

LESSON  II.— Abolition  denunciation  of  the  Bible,  507,  508;  tendency  to  mystery  in  the 
human  mind;  the  God  of  Abraham  and  Moses,  who  gave  command  how  to  treat 
slaves,  to  be  trustingly  worshipped,  508,  509. 

LESSON  III. — The  meaning  of  &>v\o$  as  used  by  the  Greek  poets,  510 ;  Valckenaerus  on 
the  phonetic  relation  of  Greek  words  to  their  derivative,  511  to  514;  the  argument 
that  JouXoy  could  not  have  meant  an  unconditional  slave,  refuted,  515,  516. 

LESSON  IV. — Extracts  from  Grecian  historians,  philosophers,  and  poets,  showing  the  classi 
cal  sense  in  which  they  used  the  word  <5ouAoj  and  its  derivatives,  516  to  536. 

LESSON  V. — The  use  of  the  word  JouXo?  by  Thucydides,  Herodotus,  and  Xenophon,  536  to 
546. 

LESSON  VI. — Extracts  from  Xenophon  continued,  546  to  549. 
LESSON  VII. — Extracts  from  Xenophon's  Cyropaedia,  549  to  554. 
LESSON  VIII. — Extracts  from  Herodotus  of  Halicarnassus,  554  to  558. 
LESSON  IX. — The  Scriptural  use  of  the  word  6ov\os,  559  to  561. 
LESSON  X. — Scriptural  extracts  continued,  562  to  564. 

LESSON  XI. — The  Greek  word  signifying  slave-stealers  in  1  Tim.  i.  5  to  11,  564  to  566; 
quotation  from  Xenophon  in  proof,  566 ;  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Barnes  to  the  Dutch,  567  ; 
Greek  words  f rom  freeman  and  slave,  568. 

LESSON  XII. — Paul  on  slave  stealing,  569  to  572. 

LESSON  XIII. — Reasons  for  Paul's  instructions  to  Timothy  and  to  Christian  slaves  re 
specting  slave-stealing  and  the  duties  of  the  servile  condition,  572  to  575. 

LESSON  XIV. — The  use  of  the  word  fov\os  by  Jesus  Christ,  576,  577. 

LESSON  XV. — Use  of  the  word  <5ouAof  by  Paul,  Peter,  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John,  578 

to  581. 

LESSON  XVI. — Origin  of  the  English  word  servant  and  its  derivatives,  581;  its  use  by  the 
sacred  writers  and  Grecian  scholars,  582  to  585. 


STUDY  VIII. 

LESSON  I.— Hebrew  orthography  of  the  word  by  which  we  mean  slave,  586  to  588;  the 
corresponding  word  in  the  Arabic,  Chaldaic,  and  Syriac  languages,  588  to  590. 

LESSON  II. — Tendency  of  the  Shemitic  languages  to  the  rhetorical  figure  prosopopoeia, 
590  to  594. 

LESSON  III. — Examples  of  the  Hebrew  word  meaning  alare,  both  as  a  noun  and  a  verb, 
595  to  601. 


xh  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

LESSON  IV. — Refutation  of  the  assertion  that  the  root  of  the  Hebrew  word  meaning  slave 
is  also  used  in  a  sense  signifying  worship,  602  to  607. 

LESSON  V. — Further  quotations  from  the  sacred  writers,  showing  the  meaning  attached  to 
the  Hebrew  word  signifying  slave  in  the  Old  Testament,  607  to  609. 

LESSON  VI. — Quotations  from  the  sacred  authors  of  the  use  of  the  Hebrew  verb  signifying 
to  slave,  or  to  be  slaves  to,  610,  611  j  identity  of  welfare  and  interest  between  the 
slave  and  his  master,  612,  613. 

LESSON  VII. — The  two  distinct  eras  in  the  Hebrew  language  j  its  approximation  to  the 
Chaldaic  and  Persian  in  the  second  era,  613  to  615. 

LESSON  VIII. — Meaning  attached  to  the  Hebrew  word  signifying  slavery  Ezra,  Nehemiah, 
Jeremiah,  and  other  prophets,  616  to  618. 

LESSON  IX. — The  use  of  the  Hebrew  word  meaning  slave  in  the  book  of  Genesis,  and  ex 
tract  from  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Stratton's  letter  to  the  author  on  the  same,  618  to  620 ;  the 
word  Eden  in  the  Arabic,  620,  621 ;  the  Hebrew  word  meaning  tilleth,  622. 

LESSON  X. — The  laws  of  Moses  in  Deuteronomy  respecting  slavery,  623. 

LESSON  XL — The  Hebrew  use  of  the  word  meaning  slaves  in  Samuel,  and  many  other 
books  of  the  Bible,  624  to  627. 

LESSON  XII. — Declension  of  the  Hebrew  noun  meaning  slave,  and  the  conjugation  and 
paradigms  of  the  Hebrew  verb  signifying  to  slave,  628  to  637. 


STUDIES   ON  SLAVEKY. 


LESSON  I. 


"  The  Elements  of  Moral  Science:  By  FRANCIS  WAYLAND,  D.D.,  President  of 
Brown  University,  and  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy.  Fortietli  Thousand 
Boston,  1849."  Pp.  396. 

THIS  author  informs  us  that  he  has  been  many  years  preparing 
the  work,  with  a  view  to  furnish  his  pupils  with  a  text-book  free 
from  the  errors  of  Paley.  Like  Paley,  whom  he  evidently  wishes 
to  supersede,  he  has  devoted  a  portion  of  his  strength  to  the  abo 
lition  of  slavery.  We  propose  to  look  into  the  book  with  an  eye 
to  that  subject  alone.  President  Wayland  says  : 

P.  24.  "  Moral  Law  is  a  form  of  expression  denoting  an  order  of 
sequence  established  between  the  moral  quality  of  actions  and 
their  results." 

Pp.  25,  26.  "  An  order  of  sequence  established,  supposes,  of  ne 
cessity,  an  Establisher.  Hence  Moral  Philosophy,  as  well  as  every 
other  science,  proceeds  upon  the  supposition  of  the  existence  of  a 
Universal  Cause,  the  Creator  of  all  things,  who  has  made  every 
thing  as  it  is,  and  who  has  subjected  all  things  to  the  relations 
which  they  sustain.  And  hence,  as  all  relations,  whether  moral 
or  physical,  are  the  result  of  his  enactment,  an  order  of  sequence 
once  discovered  in  morals,  is  just  as  inviolable  as  an  order  of  se 
quence  in  physics. 

"  Such  being  the  fact,  it  is  evident  that  the  moral  laws  of  God 
can  never  be  varied  by  the  institutions  of  man,  any  more  than  the 
physical  laws.  The  results  which  God  has  connected  with  actions 
will  inevitably  occur,  all  the  created  power  in  the  universe  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding. 

"  Yet  men  have  always  flattered  themselves  with  the  hope  that 
they  could  violate  the  moral  law  and  escape  the  consequences  which 


8  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

God  has  established.  The  reason  is  obvious.  In  physics,  the  con 
sequent  follows  the  antecedent,  often  immediately,  and  most  com 
monly  after  a  stated  and  well-known  interval.  In  morals,  the 
result  is  frequently  long  delayed ;  the  time  of  its  occurrence  is 
always  uncertain  : — Hence,  '  because  the  sentence  against  an  evil 
work  is  not  speedily  executed,  therefore  the  hearts  of  the  sons  of 
men  are  fully  set  in  them  to  do  evil.'  But  time,  whether  long  or 
short,  has  neither  power  nor  tendency  to  change  the  order  of  an 
established  sequence,  .The  time  required  for  vegetation,  in  different 
orders  of  plants, 'may "vary ;  but,  yet,  wheat  will  always  produce 
whoat,  and  an  a^/oni  will  always  produce  an  oak.  That  such  is  the 
case  in  morals,  a*  -heathen  poet  has  taught  us.  '  Raro,  anteceden- 
ium  scelestum  deseruit pede  pcena  claudo.'  HOB.  lib.  iii.  car.  2. 

"  A  higher  authority  has  admonished  us,  'Be  not  deceived;  God 
is  not  mocked;  whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  reap.'  It 
is  also  to  be  remembered,  that,  in  morals  as  well  as  in  physics,  the 
harvest  is  always  more  abundant  than  the  seed  from  which  it 
springs." 

To  this  doctrine  we  yield  the  highest  approval. 

The  first  obvious  deduction  from  the  lesson  here  advanced  is, 
that  the  laws  of  God,  as  once  revealed  to  man,  never  lose  their 
high  moral  qualities  nor  their  divine  character,  at  any  subsequent 
age  of  the  world.  The  law,  which  God  delivered  to  Moses  from 
Mount  Sinai,  authorizing  his  chosen  people  to  buy  slaves,  and  hold 
them  as  an  inheritance  for  their  children  after  them,  is,  therefore, 
the  law  of  God  now.  The  action  of  the  law  may  be  suspended  at 
a  particular  time  or  place,  from  a  change  of  contingencies, — yet 
the  law  stands  unaffected. 

We  hope  no  one  doubts  the  accuracy  of  the  doctrine  thus  fairly 
stated  in  these  "Elements."  But  we  shall  see  how  fatal  it  is  to 
some  portions  of  the  author's  positions  concerning  slavery.  And 
we  propose  to  show  how  this  doctrine,  as  connected  with  slavery, 
has  been,  and  is  elucidated  in  scripture.  The  twenty-eighth  chap 
ter  of  Deuteronomy  shows  that  the  fruits  of  wickedness  are  all 
manner  of  curses,  finally  terminating  in  slavery  or  death. 

Here,  slavery,  as  a  threatened  punishment,  distinctly  looks  back 
to  a  course  of  wickedness  for  its  antecedent.  The  same  idea  is 
spread  through  the  whole  Scriptures  :  "  Whosoever  committeth  sin, 
is  the  servant  of  sin."  John  viii.  34.  "I  am  carnal,  sold  under 
sin."  Rom.  vii.  14.  "Behold,  for  your  iniquities  have  ye  sold 
yourselves."  Isa.  1.  1.  See,  also,  Jer.  xiii.  22. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  9 

The  biblical  scholar  will  recollect  a  multitude  of  instances  where 
this  doctrine  is  clearly  advanced,  recognising  sin  as  the  antecedent 
of  slavery. 

Abraham  was  obedient  to  the  voice  of  God.  His  conduct  was 
the  antecedent ;  and  the  consequent  was,  God  heaped  upon  him 
many  blessings  ;  and  among  them,  riches  in  various  things, — "male, 
and  female  slaves,"  some  of  whom  were  "lorn  in  his  house"  and 
some  "bought  uith  his  money;"  and  God  made  a  covenant  with 
him,  granting  him,  and  his  seed  after  him,  the  land  of  Canaan  for 
an  everlasting  possession. 

But  this  gift,  as  is  the  continuance  of  all  other  blessings,  was 
accompanied  with  a  condition,  which  is  well  explained  in  Genesis, 
xviii.  19 :  "  For  I  know  him,  that  he  will  command  his  children 
and  his  household  after  him,  and  they  shall  keep  the  way  of  the 
Lord  to  do  justice  and  judgment ;  that  the  Lord  may  bring  upon 
Abraham  that  which  he  hath  spoken  of  him." 

Scholars  will  concede  the  fact  that  "  his  household"  is  a  term  by 
which  his  slaves  are  particularly  included,  over  whom  his  govern 
ment  was  extended;  and,  without  its  proper  maintenance,  the  cove 
nant  so  far  on  his  part  would  be  broken. 

From  the  wording  of  the  covenant  it  is  evident  that  Abraham 
had  slaves  before  the  covenant  was  made,  since  it  embraced  regu 
lations  concerning  slaves,  but,  in  no  instance,  hints  that  the  exist 
ence  of  slavery  was  adverse  to  the  law  of  God,  or  that  the  holding 
of  slaves,  as  slaves,  was  contrary  to  his  will.  The  deduction  is, 
that  slavery  exists  in  the  world  by  Divine  appointment ;  and  that 
the  act  of  owning  slaves  is  in  conformity  with  the  moral  law. 

The  doctrine,  that  sin  is  the  antecedent  of  slavery,  is  further 
elucidated  and  made  still  more  manifest  by  the  recognition  of  the 
institution  by  the  biblical  writers,  where  they  place  sin  and  slavery 
in  opposition  to  holiness  and  freedom : — thus,  figuratively,  making 
righteousness  the  antecedent  of  freedom.  "  Stand  fast,  therefore, 
in  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ  has  made  us  free,  and  be  not  en 
tangled  again  with  the  yoke  of  bondage."  Gal  v.  1.  "  And  ye 
shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free."  John 
iii.  32. 

The  abuse  of  slavery,  like  the  abuse  of  any  thing  else,  is  doubt 
less  a  great  sin.  Of  the  blessings  God  bestows  on  man,  there  is 
perhaps  no  one  he  does  not  abuse ;  and  while  we  examine  the  laws 
of  God,  as  presenting  to  the  mind  the  vast  field  of  cause  and  effect, 
antecedent  and  consequent, — we  may  be  led  to  a  reflection 


10  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY, 

on  the  necessity  of  a  conformity  thereto,  lest  a  long  continuance 
of  such  abuses  shall  become  the  antecedent  to  future  calamities 
and  woes,  either  to  ourselves  or  posterity ;  woes  and  calamities  pre 
figured  by  those  nations  and  tribes  already  under  the  infliction  of 
slavery,  as  a  just  punishment  of  sin. 

Thus  far,  we  thank  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wayland  for  this  fair  expos$  of 
his  views  of  the  moral  law  of  God ;  and  if  he  will  apply  them  now 
to  the  institution  of  slavery, — if  he  will  unfetter  his  intellect  from 
the  manacles  imposed  on  it  by  a  defective  education  on  that  sub 
ject,  and  cut  himself  loose  from  the  prejudices  that  his  associations 
have  gathered  around  him,  we  may  yet  have  occasion  to  rejoice 
over  him  as  one  once  an  estray  from  the  fold  of  truth,  but  now  re 
turned,  "sitting  in  his  right  mind  and  clothed."  And  will  not 
Mr.  Fuller  and  Professor  Taylor  rejoice  with  us ! 


LESSON  II. 

In  those  "Elements  of  Moral  Science,"  we  find  the  follow 
ing,  p.  29 : 

"  From  what  has  been  said,  it  may  be  seen  that  there  exists,  in 
the  actions  of  men,  an  element  which  does  not  exist  in  the  actions 
of  brutes.  ******  ^G  can  operate  upon  brutes  only 
by  fear  of  punishment,  and  hope  of  reward.  We  can  operate  upon 
man,  not  only  in  this  manner,  but  also  by  an  appeal  to  his  con 
sciousness  of  right  and  wrong ;  and  by  such  means  as  may  improve 
his  moral  nature.  Hence,  all  modes  of  punishment,  which  treat 
men  as  we  treat  brutes,  are  as  unphilosophical  as  they  are  thought 
less,  cruel,  and  vindictive.  Such  are  those  systems  of  criminal 
jurisprudence  which  have  in  view  nothing  more  than  the  infliction 
of  pain  upon  the  offender." 

It  was  unnecessary  to  inform  us  that  man  possesses  higher 
mental  endowments  than  the  brute.  But  the  main  object  of  the 
author  in  the  foregoing  paragraph  is  his  deduction  ;  that,  because 
we  can  operate  on  man  by  an  appeal  to  his  consciousness  of  right 
and  wrong,  therefore  any  other  mode  of  governing  him  is  wrong. 
This  consequent  we  fail  to  perceive.  We  also  fail  in  the  perception 
that  his  postulate  is  universally  true :  which  we  think  should  have 
been  proved  before  he  can  claim  assent  to  the  deduction.  If  this 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


our  view  be  correct,  we  beg  the  reverend  author  to  reflect  how  far 
he  may  have  made  himself  obnoxious  to  the  charge  of  sophistry  ! 

If  President  Wayland  intends,  by  the  clause,  —  "  and  by  such 
means  as  may  improve  his  moral  nature,"  —  to  include  corporeal 
punishment,  then  his  mind  was  unprepared  to  grapple  with  the 
subject  ;  for,  in  that  case,  the  whole  paragraph  is  obscure,  without 
object,  and  senseless.  We  most  readily  agree  that  to  govern  man 
by  appeals  to  his  consciousness  of  right  and  wrong  is  highly  proper 
where  the  mind  is  so  well  cultivated  that  no  other  government  is 
required. 

But,  however  unhappy  may  be  the  reflection,  too  large  a  pro 
portion  of  the  human  family  will  not  fall  within  that  class.  How 
often  do  we  see  among  men,  otherwise  having  some  claim  to  be 
classed  with  the  intelligent,  those  of  acknowledged  bad  habits  ; 
habits  which  directly  force  the  sufferer  downward  to  poverty,  dis 
grace,  disease,  imbecility,  and  death,  —  on  whom  argument  addressed 
to  their  "consciousness  of  right  and  wrong,"  "is  water  spilled  on 
the  ground." 

Children,  whose  ancestors  have,  for  ages,  ranked  among  the 
highly  cultivated  of  the  earth,  —  each  generation  surpassing  its 
predecessor  in  knowledge,  in  science,  and  religion,  —  have  been 
found  to  degenerate,  oftener  than  otherwise,  when  trained  solely 
by  arguments  addressed  to  their  reason,  and  unaccompanied  by 
physical  compulsion. 

What  then  are  we  to  expect  from  man  in  a  savage  state,  whose 
ancestors  have  been  degenerating  from  generation  to  generation, 
through  untold  ages,  —  him,  who  has  scarcely  a  feeling  in  com 
mon  with  civilized  man,  except  such  as  is  common  to  the  mere 
animal,  —  him,  whom  deteriorating  causes  have  reduced  to  the 
lowest  grade  above  the  brute  ? 

Domberger  spent  twelve  years  in  passing  through  the  central 
parts  of  Africa,  from  north  to  south.  He  found  the  negroes,  in  a 
large  district  of  country,  in  a  state  of  total  brutality.  Their  habits 
were  those  only  of  the  wild  brutes.  They  had  no  fixed  residences. 
They  lay  down  wherever  they  might  be  when  disposed  to  sleep. 
They  were  not  more  gregarious  than  the  wild  goats.  So  far  as 
he  could  discover,  they  had  not  a  language  even,  by  which  to  hold 
intercourse  with  each  other.  They  possessed  no  power  by  which 
they  were  enabled  to  exhibit  moral  degradation,  any  more  than 
the  wild  beasts. 

Hanno,  the  Carthaginian  navigator,  in  his  Periplus,  eight  hundred 


12  STUDIES   ON   SLAV7ERY. 

years  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  gives  a  similar  account  of  a  race 
he  calls  Gsetuli. 

It  is  possible  that  man,  in  these  extreme  cases,  where  there  is 
very  little  to  unlearn,  might  sooner  be  regenerated,  elevated  to 
civilization,  physical  and  mental  power,  than  in  other  cases  where 
there  may  be  far  more  proof  of  mental  capacity,  but  where  the 
worst  of  intellectual  and  physical  habits  have  stained  soul  and 
body  with,  perhaps,  a  more  indelible  degradation. 

It  would  be  a  curious  experiment,  and  add  much  to  our  know 
ledge  of  the  races  of  man,  to  ascertain  how  many  generations, 
under  the  most  favourable  treatment,  it  would  require  to  produce 
an  equal  to  Moses,  or  a  David,  a  Newton,  or  the  learned  Dr. 
Wayland  himself,  (if  such  be  possible,)  from  these  specimens  of 
man  presented  before  us !  And  we  now  inquire,  what  course  of 
treatment  will  you  propose,  as  the  most  practical,  to  elevate  such 
a  race  to  civilization  ? 

It  appears  to  us  God  has  decided  that  slavery  is  the  most 
effectual. 

"Therefore  my  people  are  gone  into  captivity,  because  they  have 
no  knowledge."  Isa.  v.  13.  "And  they  forsook  the  Lord,  and 
served  Baal  and  Ashteroth.  And  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was 
hot  against  Israel,  and  he  delivered  them  into  the  hands  of  the 
spoilers  that  spoiled  them,  and  he  sold  them  into  the  hands  of  their 
enemies  round  about."  Judg.  ii.  13,  14.  See  also,  iii.  6-8. 
"  If  his  children  forsake  my  law  and  walk  not  in  my  judgments : 
if  they  break  my  statutes,  and  keep  not  my  commandments : 
then  will  I  visit  their  transgressions  with  the  rod  and  their  iniquity 
with  stripes."  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  30-32.  "He  that  troubleth  his 
own  house  shall  inherit  the  wind :  and  the  fool  shall  be  the 
servant  (l?^  ebed,  slave)  to  the  wise  of  heart."  Prov.  ii.  29. 
"  And  her  daughters  shall  go  into  captivity.  Thus  will  I  execute 
judgments  in  Egypt:  and  they  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord." 
JEzeJc.  xxx.  18.  See  also  the  preceding  part  of  the  chapter. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  among  savage  tribes,  punishment  and 
the  infliction  of  pain  are  often  applied  with  no  higher  view  than 
to  torture  the  object  of  displeasure.  But  to  us  it  seems  remark 
ably  unfortunate,  in  a  student  of  moral  and  civil  jurisprudence,  to 
suggest  that  legal  punishment,  among  civilized  men,  is  ever  awarded 
or  ordered  with  any  such  feeling.  If  our  education  has  given  us 
a  correct  view  of  the  subject,  the  man  who  inflicts  pain  even  on 
the  brute,  solely  on  the  account  of  such  a  feeling,  instantly,  so  far 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  13 

as  it  is  known,  sinks  to  the  grade  of  a  savage  ;  and  much  more 
explicitly  when  the  object  of  revenge  is  his  fellow  man.  On  the 
contrary,  when  "the  offender"  has  given  unquestionable  evidence 
of  a  depravity  too  deeply  seated  for  any  hope  of  regeneration, 
and  the  law  orders  his  death,  it  selects  that  mode  of  execution 
which  inflicts  the  least  suffering,  and  which  shall  have  also  the 
greatest  probable  influence  to  deter  others  who  may  be  downward 
bound  in  the  road  of  moral  deterioration.  There  never  has  been 
a  code  of  laws  among  civilized  nations,  where  the  object  of  pu 
nishment  was  to  inflict  pain  on  the  implicated  ;  only  so  far  as  was 
thought  necessary  to  influence  a  change  of  action  for  the  better. 
The  object  of  punishment  invariably  has  been  the  improvement  of 
society. 

If  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wayland  had  been  teaching  legislation  to 
savages,  or,  perhaps,  their  immediate  descendants,  his  remarks, 
to  which  we  allude,  might  have  been  in  place.  But  may  we  in 
quire  to  what  cause  are  we  indebted  for  them  ? 

Permit  us  to  inquire  of  the  Doctor,  where  now  are  to  be  found 
the  "systems  of  criminal  jurisprudence"  to  which  he  alludes? 
Does  he  imagine  that  such  system  has  some  likeness  to  the  govern 
ment  of  the  civilized  man  over  his  slave  ?  Or,  in  their  govern 
ment,  does  he  propose  to  abolish  corporeal  punishment,  because  he 
may  think  that  will  destroy  the  institution  itself?  For  "  a  ser 
vant  ("TJIJ  abed,  a  slave)  will  not  be  corrected  by  words ;  for, 
though  he  understand,  he  will  not  answer."  Prov.  xxix.  19. 

We  cannot  pass  over  the  paragraph  we  have  quoted,  without 
expressing  the  most  bitter  regret  to  learn  from  Dr.  Wayland's 
own  words,  that  he  recognises  the  fact,  without  giving  it  reproval, 
that  "we"  punish  "brutes"  with  no  other  view  than  to  inflict  pain. 
To  us,  such  an  idea  is  most  repugnant  and  awful !  And  we  hope — 
we  pray  Him  who  alone  hath  power  to  drag  up  from  the  deep 
darkness  of  degradation,  that  the  minds  of  such  men  may  be  placed 
under  the  controlling  influence  of  a  rule  that  will  compel  to  a  higher 
sense  of  what  is  proper,  and  to  a  more  clear  perception  of  what  is 

truth  ! 

•*' 


14  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


LESSON  III. 

THE  learned  Doctor  says : 

P.  49.  "By  conscience,  or  moral  sense,  is  meant  that  faculty  by 
which  we  discern  the  moral  quality  of  actions,  and  by  which  we 
are  capable  of  certain  affections  in  respect  to  this  quality. 

"By  faculty  is  meant  any  particular  part  of  our  constitution,  by 
which  we  become  affected  by  the  various  qualities  and  relations  of 
beings  around  us?"  *  *  *  "Now,  that  we  do  actually  observe 
a  moral  quality  in  the  actions  of  men,  must,  I  think,  be  admitted. 
Every  human  being  is  conscious,  that,  from  childhood,  he  has 
observed  it."  *  *  *  *  * 

P.  50.  "  The  question  would  then  seem  reduced  to  this  :  Do  we 
perceive  this  quality  of  actions  by  a  single  faculty,  or  by  a  combi 
nation  of  faculties  ?  I  think  it  must  be  evident  from  what  has 
been  already  stated,  that  this  is,  in  its  nature,  simple  and  ultimate, 
and  distinct  from  every  other  notion. 

"Now,  if  this  be  the  case,  it  seems  self-evident  that  we  must 
have  a  distinct  and  separate  faculty,  to  make  us  acquainted  with 
the  existence  of  this  distinct  and  separate  quality." 

And  for  proof,  he  adds :  "  This  is  the  case  in  respect  to  all 
other  distinct  qualities :  it  is,  surely,  reasonable  to  suppose,  that 
it  would  be  the  case  in  this." 

What !  have  we  a  distinct  faculty  by  which  we  determine  one 
thing  to  be  red,  and  another  distinct  faculty  by  which  we  discover 
a  thing  to  be  black ;  another  distinct  faculty  by  which  we  judge  & 
thing  to  be  a  cube,  and  another  distinct  faculty  by  which  we 
determine  it  to  be  a  triangle  ?  Have  we  one  distinct  faculty  by 
which  we  find  a  melon,  and  another  by  which  we  find  a  gourd  ? 
What !  one  distinct  faculty  by  which  we  determine  a  professor  of 
moral  philosophy  to  be  a  correct  teacher,  and  another  by  which 
we  discover  him  to  be  a  visionary  ? 

This  faculty  of  moral  sense  puts  us  in  mind  of  Dr.  Testy's 
description  of  the  peculiar  and  distinct  particles  upon  the  tongue, 
which  render  a  man  a  liar,  a  lunatic,  or  a  linguist ;  a  treacher,  a 
tattler,  or  a  teacher,  and  so  on.  His  theory  is  that  every  mental 
and  moral  quality  of  a  man  has  its  distinct  particle,  or  little  pimple, 
upon  the  tongue,  whereby  the  quality  is  developed ;  or,  by  the  aid 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  15 

of  which  the  man  is  enabled  to  make  the  quality  manifest.  Long 
practice  in  examining  the  tongues  of  sick  people  enabled  him,  he 
says,  to  make  the  discovery.  We  should  like  to  know  what  acumi 
nated  elevation  of  the  cuticle  of  the  tongue  represented  "  conscience 
or  moral  sense,"  as  a  separate  and  distinct  faculty  ! 

Why  does  he  not  at  once  borrow  support  from  the  extravagancies 
of  phrenology,  and  assert,  according  to  the  notions  of  its  teachers, 
that,  since  the  brain  is  divided  into  distinct  organs  for  the  exercise 
of  each  distinct  faculty,  therefore  there  must  be  a  distinct  faculty 
for  the  conception  of  each  idea  ?  There  is  surely  an  evident  rela 
tion  between  this  theory  of  the  author  and  the  doctrines  of  Gall ; 
nor  will  the  world  fail  to  associate  it  with  the  phantasies  of  Mesoier. 

But  we  ask  the  author  and  his  pupils  to  apply  to  this  theory  the 
truism  of  Professor  Dodd:  "It  is,  at  all  times,  a  sufficient  refuta 
tion  of  what  purports  to  be  a  statement  of  facts,  to  show  that  the 
only  kind  of  evidence  by  which  the  facts  could  possibly  be  sustained, 
does  not  exist." 

The  theory  by  which  the  Doctor  arrives  at  the  conclusion  that 
we  possess  a  separate  and  distinct  faculty  for  the  perception  of 
each  separate  and  distinct  quality,  assimilates  to  that  of  a  certain 
quack,  who  asserted  that  the  human  stomach  was  mapped  off,  like 
Gall's  cranium,  into  distinct  organs  of  digestion ;  one  solely  for 
beef-steak,  one  for  mutton-chops,  and  another  for  plum-pudding ! 

It  is  a  great  point  with  certain  of  the  higher  class  of  abolition 
writers  to  establish  the  doctrine  that  man  possesses  a  distinct 
mental  power,  which  they  call  conscience,  or  moral  sense,  by  which 
he  is  enabled  to  discover,  of  himself,  and  without  the  aid  of  study, 
teaching,  or  even  inspiration,  what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong. 

The  practice  is,  the  child  is  taught  by  them  that  slavery  is  very 
wicked;  that  no  slaveholder  can  be  a  good  man;  and  much  of 
such  matter.  Books  are  put  into  the  hands  of  the  schoolboy  and 
the  youth,  inculcating  similar  lessons,  fraught  with  lamentation 
and  sympathy  for  the  imaginary  woes  of  the  slave,  and  hatred  and 
disgust  towards  the  master ;  and  when  maturer  years  are  his,  he 
is  asked  if  he  does  not  feel  that  slavery  is  very  wicked ;  and  the 
professors  of  moral  philosophy  then  inform  him  that  he  feels  so 
because  he  possesses  "a  distinct  mental  faculty" — distinct  from 
the  judgment — which  teaches  those  who  cultivate  it,  infallibly,  all 
that  is  right  and  wrong ;  that  this  conscience,  or  moral  sense,  is 
more  to  be  relied  on  than  the  Bible — than  the  ancient  inspirations 
of  God ! 


16  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


Hence,  Charming  says : 

"  That  same  inward  principle,  which  teaches  a  man  what  he  is 
bound  to  do  to  others,  teaches  equally,  and  at  the  same  instant, 
what  others  are  bound  to  do  to  him."  *  *  *  "  His  conscience, 
in  revealing  the  moral  law,  does  not  reveal  a  law  for  himself  only, 
but  speaks  as  a  universal  legisator."  *  *  *  "  There  is  no 
deeper  principle  in  human  nature  than  the  consciousness  of  right." 
Vol.  ii.  p.  33. 

And  Barnes,  on  Slavery,  says : 

P.  381.  •"  If  the  Bible  could  be  shown  to  defend  and  counte 
nance  slavery  as  a  good  institution,  it  would  make  thousands  of 
infidels ;  for  there  are  multitudes  of  minds  that  will  see  more 
clearly  that  slavery  is  against  all  the  laws  which  God  has  written 
on  the  human  soul,  than  they  would  see,  that  a  book,  sanction 
ing  such  a  system,  had  evidence  of  Divine  origin." 

And  this  same  author  makes  Dr.  Wayland  say : 

P.  310.  "  Well  may  we  ask,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Wayland, 
(pp.  83,  84,)  whether  there  was  ever  such  a  moral  superstructure 
raised  on  such  a  foundation  ?  The  doctrine  of  purgatory  from  a 
verse  of  Maccabees ;  the  doctrine  of  papacy  from  the  saying  of 
Christ  to  Peter ;  the  establishment  of  the  Inquisition  from  the 
obligation  to  extend  the  knowledge  of  religious  truth,  all  seem 
nothing  to  it.  If  the  religion  of  Christ  allows  such  a  license  from 
such  precepts  as  these,  the  New  Testament  wouljj,  be  the  greatest 
curse  that  ever  was  inflicted  on  our  race." 

This  book,  as  quoted  by  Barnes,  we  have  not  seen. 

Such  is  the  doctrine  of  these  theologians,  growing  out  of  the 
possession,  as  they  imagine,  of  this  distinct  moral  faculty,  infal 
libly  teaching  them  the  truth  touching  the  moral  quality  of  the 
actions  of  men.  And  what  is  its  effect  upon  their  scarcely  more 
wicked  pupils  ?  One  of  them,  in  a  late  speech  in  Congress,  says  : 

"  Sir,  I  must  express  the  most  energetic  dissent  from  those  who 
would  justify  modern  slavery  from  the  Levitical  law.  My  reason 
and  conscience  revolt  from  those  interpretations  which 

Torture  the  hallowed  pages  of  the  Bible, 
To  sanction  crime,  and  robbery,  and  blood, 
And,  in  oppression's  hateful  service,  libel 
'  Both  man  and  God!' " 

The  ignorant  fanaticism,  so  proudly  buoyant  even  in  repose 
upon  its  ill-digested  reason, — here  so  flippantly  uttered, — to  us  be 
speaks  a  dangerous  man,  (as  far  as  he  may  have  capacity,)  in  what- 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  17 


ever  station  he  may  be  found.  The  most  hateful  idolatry  has 
never  presented  to  the  world  a  stronger  proof  of  a  distorted 
imagination  giving  vent  to  the  rankest  falsehood.  It  is  to  be 
deeply  regretted  that  such  intellects  are  ever  permitted  to  have 
any  influence  upon  the  minds  of  the  young.  We  deem  it  would 
be  a  fearful  inquiry,  to  examine  how  far  the  strange  assassinations, 
lately  so  common  at  the  North,  have  been  the  direct  result  of  that 
mental  training  of  which  we  here  see  an  example.  We  fear  too 
little  is  thought  of  the  quick  transition  from  this  erroneous  theo 
logy  to  the  darkened  paths  of  man  when  enlightened  alone  by  his 
own  depraved  heart. 

The  saying  is  true,  however  awful :  He  who  rejects  or  dispels 
the  plain  meaning  of  the  Bible,  rejects  our  God,  and  is  an  idola 
ter  ;  and  God  alone  can  give  bound  to  his  wicked  conceptions. 

The  foregoing  extracts  show  us  a  specimen  of  the  arguments 
and  conclusions  emanating  from  the  doctrine  that  the  conscience 
is  a  distinct  mental  power,  and  that  it  infallibly  teaches  what  is 
right  before  God.  We  deem  it  quite  objectionable — quite  er 
roneous  ! 

We  present  the  proposition :  The  judgment  is  as  singly  em 
ployed  in  the  decision  of  what  is  right  and  wrong,  as  it  is  in  the 
conclusion  that  all  the  parts  of  a  thing  constitute  the  whole  of  it. 
True,  the  judgment,  when  in  the  exercise  of  determining  what  is 
right  and  wrong  in  regard  to  our  own  acts,  has  been  named  con 
science.  But  it  remains  for  that  class  of  philosophers,  who  argue 
that  man  possesses  a  faculty  of  clairvoyance,  to  establish  that  man 
has  also  a  sister  faculty,  which  they  call  conscience,  or  moral  sense  ; 
and  that  it  exists  as  an  independent  mental  power,  distinct  from 
judgment. 

Most  men  live  without  reflection.  They  think  of  nothing  but 
the  objects  of  sense,  of  pressing  want,  and  the  means  of  relief. 
The  wonderful  works  of  nature  create  no  wonder.  A  mine  of 
sea-shells  on  the  Andes  excites  no  surprise.  Of  the  analogies  or 
dissimilarities  between  things,  or  their  essential  relations,  the 
mind  takes  no  notice.  Even  their  intellectual  powers  exist  almost 
without  their  cognisance.  Their  mental  faculties  are  little  im 
proved  or  cultivated ;  and,  as  they  are  forced  to  the  Gazetteer  for 
the  description  of  some  distant  locality,  so  they  would  be  to  their 
logic,  before  they  could  speak  of  their  own  mental  functions. 

The  teach'™  nf  tin's  doctrine,  untrue  as  it  is,  may,  therefore, 


18  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

be  very  harmful ;  as  ill-informed  individuals  often  form  a  very 
erroneous  judgment  about  right  and  wrong,  and,  under  the  influ 
ence  of  its  teachings,  may  come  to  think  and  believe  that  their 
conclusion  concerning  right  and  wrong  is  the  product  of  their 
infallible  guide,  the  conscience,  or  moral  sense,  and  therefore  past 
all  doubt  and  beyond  question  ;  that  their  minds  are  under  the 
influence  and  control  of  a  new  and  spiritually  higher  laiv  than  the 
law  of  the  land,  or  even  the  moral  law  as  laid  down  in  the  Bible, 
when  not  in  unison  with  their  feelings.  And  we  venture  to 
prophesy,  in  case  this  doctrine  "shall  gain  general  credence,  that 
such  will  be  the  rocks  on  which  multitudes  will  founder  ;  for  simple 
and  ill-informed  people  may  thus  be  led,  and. doubtless  are,  to  do 
very  wicked  and  mischievous  acts,  under  the  influence  of  this 
belief — a  belief  of  their  possessing  this  power,  which  no  one  ever 
did  possess,  unless  inspired. 

"  There  is  a  way  that  seemeth  right  unto  a  man,  but  the  end 
thereof  are  the  ways  of  death."  Prov.  xvi.  25. 

Thus  we  see  there  is  a  class  of  theologians,  who,  in  hot  pursuit 
of  abolitionism,  seem  ready  to  sacrifice  their  Bible  and  its  re 
ligion  to  the  establishment  of  such  principles  as  they  deem  wholly 
contradictory  to,  and  incompatible  with,  the  existence  of  slavery ; 
and  it  is  hence  that  they  attempt  to  teach  that  man  possesses  an 
intuitive  sense  of  its  wrong.  But  shall  we  not  be  forced,  with 
regret,  to  acknowledge,  that  there  are  quacks  in  divinity  as  well 
as  in  physic  ? 


LESSON  IV. 

WE  do  not  charge  Dr.  Wayland  with  being  the  author  of  this 
new  doctrine  that  man  possesses  an  independent  and  distinct 
power,  faculty,  or  sense,  by  the  exercise  of  which  he  perceives 
right  and  wrong,  or,  in  other  words,  the  moral  quality  of  the  ac 
tions  of  men,  and  upon  which  perception  he  may  rest  with  safety, 
as  to  its  accuracy  and  truthfulness  ;  for  the  same  doctrine  has  been 
suggested  by  greater  men  than  Dr.  Wayland,  long  ago.  Lord 
Shaftesbury,  Dr.  Hutchinson,  and  Dr.  Reid  have  laid  the  founda 
tion  ;  the  latter  of  whom  says,  (p.  242,)  "  The  testimony  of  our 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  jg 

moral  faculty,  like  that  of  the  external  senses,  is  the  testimony 
of  nature,  and  we  have  the  same  reason  to  rely  upon  it."  Again: 
"  As  we  rely  upon  the  clear  and  distinct  testimony  of  our  eyes,  con 
cerning  the  figures  and  colours  of  bodies  about  us,  we  have  the  same 
reason,  with  security,  to  rely  upon  the  clear  and  unbiassed  testi 
mony  of  our  conscience  with  regard  to  what  we  ought  or  ought 
not  to  do." 

Such  sentiments  may  seem  to  some  to  be  deducible  from  an  in 
distinct  and  indefinite  reference  to  our  judgment  after  the  under 
standing  has  been  improved  by  moral  culture,  when  such  judgment, 
by  a  mere  looseness  of  language,  is  sometimes  described  as  if  the 
writers  confounded  it  with  the  state  of  mind  and  moral  perfecti 
bility  produced  by  the  reception  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Thus,  Arch 
bishop  Seeker,  in  his  Fourth  Lecture  on 'the  Catechism,  says: 

"  How  shall  all  persons  know  what  they  are  taught  to  believe  is 
really  true  ? 

"Answer.  The  greater  part  of  it,  when  it  is  once  duly  pro 
posed  to  them,  they  may  perceive  to  be  so  by  the  light  of  their 
own  reason  and  conscience." 

Now  it  is  evident  that  the  bishop's  answer  is  predicated  upon 
the  supposition  that  the  understanding  has  been  cultivated  in  con 
formity  to  the  principles  of  moral  truth. 

But,  from  such  hasty,  perhaps  thoughtless,  snatches  of  specula 
tion,  occasionally  found  in  some  few  of  the  older  metaphysical 
writers,  our  author  and  his  co-associates  in  this  belief  have  drawn 
their  materials,  remodelled  the  parts,  and  reared,  even  as  to  heaven, 
a  lofty  structure  upon  a  doubtful,  tottering  base,  bringing  untold 
social  and  political  evils  upon  society,  and  spiritual  death,  in  its 
fall,  to  all  who  shelter  under  it.  But  for  the  good  of  the  world,  in 
opposition  to  such  a  doctrine,  truth  has  erected  her  column  of  solid 
masonry,  against  which  the  fanaticism  and  sophistry  of  these 
builders  can  only,  like  successive  drops  of  water,  carry  down  the 
walls  some  useless  portions  of  the  cement. 

We  repeat,  how  tottering  must  be  the  argument  founded  upon 
analogy  where  there  is  no  relation !  We  all  agree  that  the  senses 
make  truthful  representations:  all  see,  smell,  and  taste  alike; 
vinegar  will  be  sour  to  the  savage,  as  well  as  the  savant.  But  is 
their  judgment  the  same  about  the  moral  qualities  of  actions? 
What  says  this  moral  sense,  this  conscience,  in  the  savage,  who  is 
taught  to  steal  from  his  friend  and  torture  his  enemy  ?  Does  the 


20  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


reverend  doctor  think  his  moral  sense  will  dictate  the  same  conclu 
sion  ?  What  right  has  he,  then,  to  say,  it  is  the  voice  of  nature — 
of  God  ?  Does  he  fail  to  perceive  that  the  moral  quality  of  actions 
is  distinguished  by  man  in  conformity  to  his  experience,  his  train 
ing,  his  education  ? 

We  see  that  men  often  differ  about  the  moral  quality  of  an  action. 
It  might  be  that  no  two  men  would  have  the  same  idea  about  the 
moral  quality  of  a  particular  action.  Would  the  conscience,  this 
moral  sense,  or  faculty,  in  such  case,  be  right  in  each  one  ?  If 
not,  who  is  to  determine  which  is  right  and  which  is  wrong  ?  And 
further,  of  what  use  to  man  can  be  this  distinct,  independent,  and 
unchangeably  truthful  power,  which,  nevertheless,  brings  him  no 
certainty  ?  But  has  the  mind  of  man  ever  found  out  that  God  has 
overdone,  or  unnecessarily  done,  any  thing  ?  Will  these  theorists 
reflect,  that,  in  case  God  had  seen  fit  to  bestow  such  a  sense  on 
man,  inspiration  would  have  been  useless,  and  the  Bible  not  wanted  ? 
And  the  condition  of  man  upon  the  earth  would  be  wholly  station 
ary  instead  of  progressive.  And  permit  us  to  inquire,  whether 
this  notion  of  theirs  is  the  reason  why  some  of  these  theorists 
speak  so  rashly,  we  might  say  blasphemously,  of  that  sacred  volume, 
upon  the  condition  which  they  dictate  ? 

The  truth  is,  we  have  no  such  infallible  guide.  The  idea  of 
right  and  wrong,  either  theologically  or  physically  considered,  is 
always  fixed  through  an  exertion  of  the  powers  of  the  understand 
ing.  We  have  no  instinctive  power  reaching  the  case.  Our  judg 
ment,  our  feelings  are  often  unstable,  irregular,  and  sometimes 
antagonistic.  In  abstruse  cases,  very  often  we  cannot  even  satisfy 
ourselves  what  is  right ;  and  will  it  be  said  that  we  do  not  often 
fail  to  see  the  object,  design,  and  law  of  God  touching  a  case  ? 

On  every  decision  on  a  question  of  right  or  wrong,  a  train  of 
mental  action  is  called  into  operation,  comparing  the  ideas  already 
in  the  mind  with  the  facts  of  the  case  under  review,  and  noting  the 
similarity  of  these  facts  to  our  idea  of  right,  or  whether  the  facts 
conform  to  our  idea  of  wrong.  This  decision  we  call  judgment : 
but  when  the  decision  reaches  to  the  question  of  right  or  wrong, 
touching  our  own  conduct  only,  logicians  have  agreed  to  call  it 
conscience ;  not  a  distinct  action  from  judgment — much  less  a  dis 
tinct  faculty ;  and  by  no  means  carrying  with  it  more  proof  of 
accuracy  and  correctness  than  is  our  judgment  about  any  other 
matter,  where  the  ideas  and  facts  are  equally  manifest  and  accu 
rately  presented. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  21 

There  is  another  consideration  which  to  us  gives  proof  that  the 
conscience  or  moral  sense  is  not  an  independent  faculty  of  the 
mind,  nor  to  be  relied  on  at  all  as  infallible.  Many  of  us  have 
noticed  the  changes  that  imperceptibly  come  over  our  moral  feel 
ings,  and  judgment  of  right  and  wrong,  conscience  or  moral  sense, 
through  the  influences  of  association  and  habit.  Our  affluent 
neighbour,  who  manifests  to  others  many  virtues  and  some  follies, 
our  mind,  by  association  and  habit,  regards  as  a  perfect  model  of 
human  greatness  and  perfection.  Thus  a  corrupt  government  soon 
surveys  a  corrupt  people ;  and  a  somewhat  licentious,  but  talented 
and  accomplished  clergyman,  soon  finds  his  hearers  in  fashion. 
Nor  is  it  unfrequent,  that  which  should  stigmatize  a  father  is  beheld 
with  admiration  by  the  son.  Thus  wealth,  to  most,  is  desirable, 
but  its  desirability  has  been  created  by  association ;  we  recollect 
the  objects  it  enables  us  to  command,  often  the  objects  of  our  prin 
cipal  pursuit.  The  quality  the  mind  associates  with  these  gratifi 
cations,  it  eventually  associates  with  that  which  procures  them. 
Thus,  we  perceive,  the  mind  is  able  to  form  a  moral  estimate  upon 
considerations  wholly  artificial,  which  could  never  happen  in  case 
the  moral  sense  was  independent,  and  a  distinct  faculty  teaching 
us  infallible  truth. 

But  how  are  we  to  account  for  the  fact  that  some  of  the  finest 
intellects,  as  well  as  the  most  learned  men,  have  fallen  into  this 
most  dangerous  error  ?  It  should  be  a  subject  of  deep  thought ! 

"We  discover,  in  some  men  of  the  highest  order  of  intellects,  the 
power  of  arriving,  as  it  were  instantaneously,  at  a  conclusion, 
giving  it  the  appearance  of  being  intuitive,  rather  than  the  result 
of  what  would  be,  when  analyzed,  a  long  chain  of  reasoning.  Thus, 
the  instant  and  happy  thought  often  springing  to  the  mind  when 
in  some  sudden  or  unforeseen  difficulty.  The  nice  and  instant  per 
ception,  often  displayed  by  medical  men,  of  the  condition  of  the 
patient,  is  an  example;  and  hence  the  astonishing  accuracy  of 
judgment,  sometimes  noticed  in  the  military  commander,  from  a 
mere  glance  of  the  eye. 

In  such  cases  the  mind  is  often  not  conscious  of  .any  mental 
action ;  and  others,  who  observe  these  facts,  are  led,  sometimes,  to 
confound  what,  in  such  cases,  is  a  deductive  judgment,  with  in- 
tuitiveness.  The  judgment,  thus  formed  without  any  perceptible 
succession  of  thought,  is  merely  the  result  of  acquirement  from 
long  experience  and  habits  of  active  ratiocination.  Some  few  in 
stances  of  this  unconscious  and  rapid  thought  have  been  exem- 


22  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

plified  by  mathematicians,  when  the  calculator  could  give  no  account 
how  he  arrived  at  the  conclusion.  Will  any  one  claim  that  they 
abstract  their  answers  from  the  most  abstruse  propositions  intui 
tively,  or  by  instinct,  or  by  any  new  and  distinct  faculty  of  the 
mind  ?  This  habit  of  mind  is  as  applicable  to  morals  as  to  any 
thing  else.  But  in  mathematics  the  data  are  everywhere  the  same  ;, 
whereas  in  morals  the  data  are  as  different  among  men  as  are  their 
conditions  of  life ;  because  our  ideas  of  right  and  wrong,  existing 
in  the  mind  before  the  judgment  is  formed  on  the  case  to  be  con 
sidered,  were  introduced  by  the  aid  of  the  senses,  through  the 
medium  of  experience  and  education ;  and  it  is,  therefore,  quite 
obvious  that  the  idea  of  right  in  one  man  may  be  quite  like  the 
idea  of  wrong  in  another. 

But  it  remains  to  show  the  fallacy  of  the  argument  by  which 
Dr.  Wayland  arrives  at  his  conclusion.  £et  us  examine  the 
paragraph  quoted,  and  sift  from  verbiage  the  naked  points  of  the 
argument : 

"  We  do  actually  observe  a  moral  quality  in  the  actions  of 
men." 

"Do  we  perceive  this  quality  of  actions  by  a  single  faculty,  or  a 
combination  of  faculties  ?  This  notion"  (the  perception  of  the 
moral  quality  of  an  action)  "is,  in  its  nature,  simple  and  ultimate, 
and  distinct  from  every  other  notion." 

"We  have  a  distinct  faculty  to  make  us  acquainted  with  the 
existence  of  all  other  distinct  qualities."  "  Therefore,  it  is  self-evi 
dent  that  this  is  a  separate  and  distinct  faculty." 

The  syllogism  is  defective  because  the  idea  of  right  or  wrong  is 
not  simple  nor  ultimate,  but  complex,  and  ever  subject  to  change 
from  the  influence  of  any  new  light  presented  to  the  -nind.  Nor 
is  it  true  that  we  possess  a  distinct  faculty  to  make  us  acquainted 
with  each  distinct  quality ;  for,  if  so,  the  mind  would  be  merely  a 
very  large  bundle  of  faculties ;  and  we  should  neither  possess  nor 
stand  in  need  of  any  reasoning  powers  whatever,  because  the  naked 
truth  about  every  thing  would  always  stand  revealed  before  us  by 
these  faculties ;  which,  we  think,  is  not  the  fact. 

In  syllogistic  argument,  the  first  principles  must  be  something 
that  cannot  be  otherwise — unalterable — an  eternal  truth ;  "  because 
these  qualities  cannot  belong  to  the"  conclusion  unless  they  belong- 
to  the  premises,  which  are  its  causes." 

The  syllogism  will  then  stand  thus  : 

It  is  not  true  our  notion,  or  idea,  of  the  moral  quality  of  an 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  23 

action  "is  simple  and  ultimate,  and  distinct  from  any  other  idea 
or  notion :" 

It  is  not  true  that  we  have  a  distinct  faculty  to  make  us 
acquainted  with  the  existence  of  all  other  distinct  qualities : 

Therefore,  it  is  not  true,  nor  self-evident,  that  we  perceive  the 
moral  qualities  of  an  action,  or  that  we  have  the  idea  or  notion  of 
it,  by  the  aid  of  a  single  distinct  and  separate  faculty. 

The  "notion"  advanced  by  Dr.  Wayland,  on  this  subject, 
appears  to  us  so  strange,  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  conceive  it  to 
have  been  issued  or  promulgated  by  a  schoolman,  did  we  net- 
know  how  often  men,  led  by  passion,  some  by  prejudice,  argue 
from  false  premises  to  which  they  take  no  heed,  or,  from  a  want 
of  information,  honestly  mistake  for  truths. 


LESSON  V. 

P.  206.  "!T"  (slavery)  "supposes  that  the  Creator  intended 
one  human  being  to  govern  the  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral 
actions  of  as  many  other  human  beings  as,  by  purchase,  he  can 
bring  within  his  physical  power,  and  that  one  human  being  may 
thus  acquire  a  right  to  sacrifice  the  happiness  of  any  number  of 
other  human  beings,  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  his  own." 

This  proposition  is  almost  a  total  error.  Slavery  supposes  the 
Creator  intended  that  the  interest  of  the  master  in  the  slave  who, 
by  becoming  his  slave,  becomes  his  property,  should  secure  to  the 
slave  that  protection  and  government  which  the  slave  is  too 
degenerate  to  supply  to  himself;  and  that  such  protection  and 
government  are  necessary  to  the  happiness  and  well-being  of  the 
slave,  without  which  he  either  remains  stationary  or  degenerates  in 
Ins  moral,  mental,  and  physical  condition. 

P.  207.  "It"  (slavery)  "renders  the  eternal  happiness  of  the 
one  party  subservient  to  the  temporal  happiness  of  the  other." 

This  is  equally  untrue.  Slavery  subjects  one  party  to  the  .com 
mand  of  another  who  is  expected  to  feel  it  a  duty  to  so  "command 
his  household"  that  "they  shall  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord,  to  do 
justice  and  judgment." 

This  is  the  voice  of  God  on  the  subject,  as  heretofore  quoted. 
The  learned  Dr.  Wayland  is  evidently  wholly  unacquainted  with 


24  STUDIESON    SLAVERY. 


the  spirit  and  intention,  and,  we  may  add,  origin  of  the  institution 
of  slavery  ;  yet  he  has,  doubtless,  been  studying  some  of  its  abuses. 

But  suppose  a  man  to  study  nothing  of  Christianity  but  its  abuses, 
and  from  these  alone  undertake  to  describe  what  he  conceives  to 
be  its  results,  its  character,  and  suppositions ;  he  doubtless  would 
make  what  Dr.  Wayland  would  very  justly  call  a  distorted  repre 
sentation  ;  and  perhaps,  he  might  safely  use  a  harsher  phrase. 
But  would  such  a  representation  be  productive  of  any  good  in  the 
world  ?  It  might  do  much  mischief  by  spreading,  broadcast,  its 
errors  and  misrepresentations ;  a  most  delicious  food  for  the 
morbid  appetite  of  the  ignorant  and  fanatic  infidel !  Yes,  infi 
delity  has  its  fanatics  as  well  as  abolitionism ! 

"  Obey  them  that  have  rule  over  you,  and  submit  yourselves : 
for  they  watch  for  your  souls  as  they  that  must  give  account,  that 
they  may  do  it  with  joy  and  not  with  grief:  for  that  is  unpro 
fitable  for  you."  Reb.  xiii.  IT. 

P.  207.  "If  argument  were  necessary  to  show  that  such  a  sys 
tem  as  this  must  be  at  variance  with  the  ordinance  of  God,  it 
might  easily  be  drawn  from  the  effects  which  it  produces,  both 
upon  morals  and  national  wealth." 

The  author,  in  this  instance,  as  he  has  in  many  others,  designs 
to  produce  an  effect  on  the  mind  of  his  reader  from  what  he  does 
not  say,  as  well  as  from  what  he  does  say.  We  acknowledge  this 
mode  to  be  quite  noncommittal,  while,  on  the  minds  of  some,  it 
may  be  very  skilfully  used  to  produce  an  impression.  But  we 
confess  ourselves  ignorant  of  any  logical  rule  by  which  it  is  enti 
tled  to  produce  any  on  us.  The  mode  of  speech  used  is  intended 
to  produce  the  impression  that  the  proposition  is  someway  self- 
evident,  and  therefore  stands  in  no  need  of  proof  or  argument.  But 
how  the  proposition,  that  slavery  is  "at  variance  with  the  ordi 
nances  of  God"  is  self-evident,  and  needs  no  proof  nor  argument, 
we  have  not  the  "moral  sense"  or  "faculty"  to  discover.  But  as 
Dr.  Wayland  proposes,  nevertheless,  to  prove  its  truth  by  its  effects 
on  morals  and  wealth,  let  us  listen  to  the  evidence. 

Idem.  "  Its  effects  must  be  disastrous  upon  the  morals  of  both 
parties.  By  presenting  objects  on  whom  passion  may  be  satiated 
without  resistance  and  without  redress,  it  tends  to  cultivate  in  the 
master,  pride,  anger,  cruelty,  selfishness,  and  licentiousness.  By 
accustoming  the  slave  to  subject  his  moral  principles  to  the  will  of 
another,  it  tends  to  abolish  in  him  all  moral  distinctions ;  and  thus 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  25 


fosters  in  him  lying,  deceit,  hypocrisy,  dishonesty,  and  a  willingness 
to  yield  himself  up  to  the  appetites  of  his  master." 

This  is  his  proof  that  slavery  is  "  at  variance  with  the  ordinances 
of  God,"  as  he  has  drawn  it  from  its  effect  on  morals  ; — in  which 
we  think  him  singularly  unfortunate.  He  asks  us  to  receive,  as 
proof  of  the  truth  of  the  proposition,  a  combination  of  propositions 
all  requiring  proof  of  their  truth,  but  of  the  truth  of  which  he 
offers  no  proof. 

This  view  of  the  state  of  the  argument,  we  imagine,  would  be 
sufficient  to  condemn  it  in  all  well-schooled  minds ;  but,  neverthe 
less,  we  propose  to  show  that  which  he  offers  as  proof  is  not  true ; 
and  even  if  true,  is  no  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  proposition  he 
endeavours  to  sustain. 

In  regard  to  the  master,  the  effect  complained  of  may  or  may 
not  exist,  as  may  be  the  fact  whether  the  master  is  or  is  not 
capable  of  administering  the  charge  and  government  of  slaves 
wisely  for  himself  and  them.  But  these  abuses,  when  found  to 
exist,  are  no  proof  of  the  moral  impropriety  of  the  institution ; 
for,  if  so,  the  abuses  of  a  thing  are  proof  that  the  thing  itself  is 
evil.  There  are  many  abuses  of  government :  is  government, 
therefore,  at  variance  with  the  ordinances  of  God  ?  The  same  of 
matrimony;  and  is  it,  therefore,  to  be  set  aside  ?  Some  men  make 
an  abusive  use  of  their  education,  and,  in  consequence,  would  have 
been  more  valuable  members  of  society  in  a  state  of  comparative 
ignorance  :  are  our  universities,  therefore,  to  be  abolished  ?  Money 
has  been  said  to  be  "the  root  of  all  evil;"  it,  to  some  extent,  is 
the  representative  of  wealth  and  power ;  the  possession  of  either 
of  which  may,  in  some  individuals,  sometimes  apparently  enable 
the  possessor  "to  cultivate  pride,  anger,  cruelty,  selfishness,  and 
licentiousness."  The  same  may  be  said  of  power  of  any  kind. 
But  has  not  Dr,  Wayland  learned  that  there  are  cases  where  the 
effect  would  be  and  is  entirely  the  reverse?  —  where  power, 
wealth,  or  even  the  possession  of  slaves,  produces  in  the  possessor 
a  greater  degree  of  humility,  placidity  or  mildness,  sympathy  or 
charity  for  others,  and  orderly  conduct  in  himself?  Does  the 
reverend  moral  philosopher  make  so  low  an  estimate  of  the  value 
of  civilization — of  the  influence  of  Christianity — as  not  to  admit  the 
capability  of  enjoying  a  blessing  without  abusing  it  ? 

If  Dr.  Wayland's  argument  be  founded  on  truth,  it  will  be  easy 
to  show  that  any  system  of  things  must  be  at  variance  with  the 
ordinances  of  God  which  permit  the  possession  of  either  power  or 


20  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

wealth  :  consequently,  in  such  case,  we  must  and  should  all  go  back 
to  the  savage  state.  We  ask  this  learned  standard  author  to  read 
the  history  of  Abraham  and  Isaac,  and  inform  us  whether  slavery 
produced  the  effect  on  them  which  he  supposes  to  be  an  entailment 
of  "the  institution ;  for  the  effect  must  be  proved  to  be  an  un 
changeable,  a  universal  and  unavoidable  consequence,  before  it 
•-  ;m  receive  the  character  of  evidence  in  the  case  to  which  he  ap 
plies  it. 

But  Dr.  "Way  land  thinks  that  slavery  "  tends  to  abolish  all  moral 
distinctions  in  the  slave" — "  fosters  in  him  lying,  deceit,  hypocrisy, 
dishonesty,  and  a  willingness  to  yield  himself  up  to  minister  to  the 
appetites  of  his  master;"  and,  therefore,  "is  at  variance  with  the 
ordinances  of  God." 

If  the  doctor  had  seen  the  native  African  and  slave  in  the  wild, 
frantic  joy  of  his  savage  worship,  tendered  to  his  chief  idol-god, 
the  imbodiment  of  concupiscence  ;  if  he  had  seen  all  the  power  of 
the  Christian  master  centered  to  effect  the  eradication  of  this 
heathen  belief,  and  the  habits  it  engendered ;  had  he  witnessed  the 
anxiety  of  the  master  for  the  substitution  of  the  precepts  of 
Christianity ;  if  he  had  seen  the  untiring  efforts  of  the  masters, 
sometimes  for  several  generations,  before  this  great  object  could 
be  accomplished,  and  the  absolute  necessity  of  its  accomplishment 
before  the  labour  of  the  slave  could  ordinarily  become  to  him  an 
article  of  full  and  desirable  profit, — he  would 'probably  never  have 
written  the  paragraph  we  have  quoted ! 

But  since,  in  the  honest,  we  may  perhaps  say  the  amiable,  sim 
plicity  of  his  mind,  he  has  composed  this  lesson  for  his  pupil 
which,  like  the  early  dew  in  imperceptible  showers  on  the  tender 
blade,  becomes  the  daily  nutriment  of  his  juvenile  mind  and  the 
habitual  aliment  of  its  maturity,  we  deem  it  necessary  to  make  one 
further  brief  remark  in  proof  of  its  entire  inadequacy  to  the  task 
assigned  it  in  his  argument,  as  a  particular  and  special,  and  of  its 
total  untruthfulness  as  a  general  and  comprehensive,  maxim  in 
morals. 

Our  experience  is,  that  the  crimes  here  named,  when  detected  in 
the  slave,  are  punished,  and,  if  necessary,  with  severity,  if  for  no 
other  reason,  because  they  render  the  slave  less  valuable  to  his 
master.  The  master  wishes  to  find  in  his  slave  one  on  whom  he 
can  rely  with  certainty  ;  in  whom  there  is  no  dissonance  of  interest 
from  his  own,  and  whose  honesty  and  obedience  are  past  doubt. 
The  qualities  which  are  the  exact  opposite  of  the  crimes  imputed 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  27 


are,  therefore,  sedulously  cultivated  in  the  slave, — and  truly,  very 
often,  with  small  success.  But  we  are  surprised  at  the  doctrine 
which  proclaims  a  system  of  government  that  ever  punishes  and 
looks  with  displeasure  on  "  lying,  deceit,  hypocrisy,  and  dishonesty," 
to  be  the  very  thing  to  foster  and  nourish  those  vices  !  When  such 
is  proved  to  be  the  fact,  we  shall  regard  it  as  a  new  discovery  in 
morals. 

As  to  the  last  clause  of  what  he  has  adduced  as  proof  of  his 
proposition,  we  say  that  any  one  who  is  in  the  employ,  or  even  the 
company,  of  another,  either  as  a  friend,  wife,  child,  or  hireling,  as 
well  as  slave,  may  manifest  a  growing  willingness  to  minister  to  the 
appetites  of  such  person  ;  and  such  inclination,  or  willingness,  will 
operate  to  the  benefit  or  injury  of  those  so  influenced,  in  propor 
tion  as  such  appetite  is  good  or  bad,  or  tends  to  good  or  evil :  but 
this  influence,  whether  tending  to  benefit  or  injury,  is  not  an  ex 
clusive  incident  of  slavery,  and,  therefore,  cannot  with  any  pro 
priety,  be  quoted  either  for  or  against  it:  for,  everywhere,  "evil 
communications  corrupt  good  manners." 


LESSON  VI. 

DR.  WAYLAND  informs  us  that  slavery  is  at  variance  with  the 
ordinances  of  God,  because  it  diminishes  the  amount  of  national 
wealth.  If  the  diminishing  of  national  wealth  be  proof  of  the 
variance  from  the  ordinances  of  God,  then  it  will  follow  that  what 
ever  will  increase  such  wealth  must  be  in  conformity  to  such  ordi 
nances, — a  position  which  we  think  no  one  will  attempt  to  main 
tain.  But  let  us  notice  the  evidence  he  adduces  to  prove  that 
slavery  diminishes  national  wealth.  His  first  proof  is,  that  slavery 
does  not  "impose  on  all  the  necessity  of  labour;"  but  that  it  "re 
stricts  the  number  of  labourers — that  is,  of  producers — by  render 
ing  labour  disgraceful." 

Now  this  is  surely  a  proposition  which  requires  to  be  proved 
itself  before  it  can  be  received  as  a  proof  of  an  antecedent  propo 
sition  ;  and  President  Wayland  seems  to  have  perceived  that,  under 
the  general  term,  "labourers,"  it  would  be  incapable  of  proof;  and, 
therefore,  he  informs  us  that  by  labourers  he  means  producers. 
The  logicians  will  agree  that  there  is  a  disjointedness  in  this  pro 
position  (very  common  in  this  author)  to  which  exception  might  be 


28  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


taken ;  but  we  suppose  Dr.  Wayland  means  that  slavery  decreases 
the  number  of  those  whose  labour  is  employed  in  the  production  of 
the  articles  or  products  of  agriculture ;  for  we  do  not  presume  he 
means  that  the  labours  of  the  law,  physic,  divinity,  the  mechanic 
arts,  commerce,  politics  or  war,  are  rendered  disgraceful  by  slavery, 
but  agriculture  alone ;  and  that,  therefore,  it  is  at  variance  with 
the  ordinances  of  God,  because  it  thus  diminishes  the  amount  of 
national  wealth.  If  this  is  not  his  meaning,  we  confess  ourselves 
unable  to  find  any  meaning  in  it. 

We  know  of  no  surer  method  to  test  its  truth  or  falsehood  than 
for  the  Slave  States  to  compare  their  number  of  agricultural  pro 
ducers  with  those  of  the  Free  States,  having  relation  to  the  entire 
population.  The  result  will  be  found  wholly  adverse  to  the  reve 
rend  moralist's  position.  In  fact,  so  great  is  the  disproportion 
between  the  numbers  of  agricultural  labourers  in  the  Slave  States, 
compared  to  those  in  the  Free,  that  the  articles  of  their  produce 
often  fall  down  to  prices  ruinous  to  the  agriculturist,  which  very 
seldom,  or  never,  happens  in  the  Free  States.  Let  Dr.  Wayland 
study  the  statistics  touching  this  point,  and  he  will  find  himself  in 
error. 

But  the  proposition  of  President  Wayland  includes  this  minor 
proposition :  That  the  increase  of  agricultural  products,  to  the 
greatest  possible  extent,  increases  national  wealth.  We  are  very 
far  from  discovering  the  truth  of  this ;  because  the  increase  of  a 
production,  beyond  utility  and  demand,  can  add  nothing  to  the 
value  of  the  production,  since  value  depends  upon  utility  and  de 
mand.  If  this  position  be  true,  which  we  think  very  few  at  this 
day  will  dispute,  it  is  quite  obvious  that  President  Wayland,  and 
even  Adam  Smith,  (from  whom  we  suppose  the  former  has  re 
ceived  this  notion,)  are  quite  mistaken  when  they  predicate  the 
amount  of  labour  to  be  the  sole  measure,  or,  in  fact,  the  amount 
of  wealth  ;  since  that  position  must  render  the  amount  of  labour 
and  the  amount  of  wealth  terms  of  convertible  significance,  which, 
in  fact,  is  seldom  the  case.  Such,  then,  being  the  state  of  the 
argument,  Dr.  Wayland's  proposition  is,  in  effect :  That  the  pro 
duction  of  the  articles  of  agriculture,  to  an  extent  beyond  any 
demand  or  value,  is  in  conformity  to  the  ordinances  of  God ;  and, 
therefore,  their  production,  to  any  less  extent,  is  at  variance  with 
those  ordinances,  because  the  first  increases  and  the  latter  decreases 
national  wealth.  We  shall  leave  these  contradictions  for  the 
consideration  of  the  professor  of  moral  philosophy  and  his  pupils. 


STUDIES   ON  SLAVERY.  29 

The  second  witness  Dr.  Wayland  introduces  to  prove  the 
truth  of  his  proposition,  that  slavery  lessens  the  amount  of  na 
tional  wealth,  is  that  slavery  takes  from  the  labourer  the  natural 
stimulus  to  labour, — the  desire  of  individual  benefit, — and  substi 
tutes  the  fear  of  punishment :  And  for  the  third  and  last,  that 
slavery  removes  from  both  parties  the  disposition  and  motive  to 
frugality ;  by  which  means  national  wealth  is  diminished. 

If  national  wealth  be  the  desideratum,  in  order  not  to  be  at 
variance  with  the  ordinances  of  God,  it  matters  not  whether  the 
contributors  to  it  did  so  contribute  through  the  selfish  view  of 
personal  aggrandizement  and  a  desire  of  elevation  above  their 
fellows,  or  whether  they  did  so  to  relieve  themselves  from  some 
stigma  or  personal  infliction  that  a  refusal  might  be  expected  to 
fasten  upon  them.  The  motive  in  both  cases  is  the  same — a  desire 
to  benefit  themselves.  Thus  Dr.  Wayland,  therefore,  makes  a 
distinction  where,  in  reality,  there  is  no  difference. 

But  again,  if  the  amount  of  labour  be  the  criterion  of  the 
amount  of  national  wealth,  as  he  seems  to  suppose,  it  can  make 
no  difference,  in  a  national  point  of  view,  whether  A  and  B 
squander  the  result  of  their  labours  into  the  possession  of  C  and 
D,  or  retain  it  themselves ;  because  the  change  of  possession  in 
no  way  destroys  the  thing  possessed.  It  might  be  gathered,  from 
this  part  of  Dr.  Wayland's  argument,  that  the  greatest  misers 
would  be  the  most  efficient  builders  of  national  wealth,  and,  there 
fore,  most  in  accordance  with  the  ordinances  of  God. 

We  are  somewhat  at  loss  to  perceive  the  precise  idea  the  author 
affixes  to  the  term  "  national  wealth."  Whether  this  be  his  or  our 
fault,  we  leave  for  others  to  decide. 

Has  it  ever  occurred  to  the  reverend  author  to  estimate  the 
wealth  of  a  nation  by  the  moral,  physical,  and  individual  welfare 
of  the  population  ? 

But  we  cannot  attempt,  or  undertake,  to  expose,  nor  explain, 
all  the  false  reasoning,  distorted  views,  and  prejudiced  conclusions 
found  heaped  up,  in  heterogeneous  confusion,  by  the  abolition 
writers.  The  dissection  of  mental  putridity  is  as  unwelcome  a 
task  as  that  of  the  animal  carcass  in  a  state  of  decomposition. 

If  we  cast  our  eyes  over  the  surface  of  human  life,  we  notice 
that  wealth  and  power  usually  travel  hand  in  hand ;  but  that  wealth 
is  distributed  unequally,  varied  from  the  lofty  possessions  of  royal 
power  down  to  the  most  scanty  pittance  of  poverty  and  want ; — 
yet  leaving  a  vast  majority  in  possession  of  nothing  save  life,  and 


30  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 

their  right  to  the  use  of  the  elements  of  nature.  It  is  with  these 
lower  classes  we  have  the  most  to  do.  The  wants  of  these,  most 
generally,  are  physical :  indeed,  we  sometimes  find  them  only  on  a, 
ievel  with  the  brute.  Thus,  the  African  mountaineer  is  prone  and 
content  to  feed  on  the  decaying  remains  of  what  he  may  find, 
and  wanders,  like  the  hyena,  upon  the  trail  of  what  he  hopes  to 
find  his  prey ;  while  the  savage  islanders  of  the  distant  seas  are 
satisfied  with  what  the  ocean  heaves  on  shore.  We  notice  that 
these  wants  are  increased  by  climate ;  hence,  the  native  of  the 
extreme  north,  content  with  his  flitch  of  blubber,  yet  robs  the 
bear  of  his  hide  for  a  blanket.  These  wants  we  also  find  en 
larged  by  the  least  contact  with  civilization.  Hence  we  see  the 
African,  on  the  western  coast  of  his  continent,  garnished  out  with 
the  gewgaws  of  Europe,  and  the  Indian  of  our  own  clime  with  the 
trinkets  of  trade.  And  thus  we  may  notice  that,  as  civilization 
and  capital  increase  in  any  country,  new  objects  of  desire,  new 
individual  wants  increase  in  proportion.  Hence,  the  farm-house 
now  exhibits  its  carpet,  whereas  Queen  Elizabeth  was  content 
with  straw ! 

All  these  wants  require  some  action,  on  the  part  of  those  who 
desire  their  gratification,  to  continue  their  supply,  or  it  must  cease  ; 
because,  as  a  general  rule,  the  product  of  individual  labour  must 
bound  the  supply  of  individual  wants,  in  all  cases  where  the  indi 
vidual  possesses  no  capital  which  yields  an  additional  revenue. 

But  a  large  portion  of  those  in  savage  life  produce  nothing  ;  so, 
also,  a  portion  from  civilized  society  seem  ever  disposed  to  break 
through  the  rules  of  civilization,  to  retrograde  as  to  morals,  and 
subsist  by  trick  or  some  dishonesty.  They  produce  nothing,  and 
are,  therefore,  a  total  drawback  on  the  welfare  of  others.  We 
find,  also,  another  portion,  the  product  of  whose  labour  is  inade 
quate  to  the  supply  of  their  individual  wants,  and  who  are  without 
capital  to  supply  the  deficiency.  Such  must  die,  or  resort  to 
charity ;  or  retrograde,  and  live  by  their  wits.  Good  men,  in  all 
ages,  have  striven  to  obviate  these  evils.  The  Levitical  law  did 
so  by  permitting  the  unfortunate  man  to  sell  himself,  as  a  slave, 
for  six  years,  or  for  life,  as  he  might  choose,  under  the  state  of 
the  case ;  or,  in  case  he  did  not  so  choose  to  sell  himself,  but  be 
came  indebted  beyond  his  means,  the  law  forced  his  sale,  and  also 
that  of  his  whole  family.  Although,  to  some,  this  law  may  look 
harsh,  yet  its  spirit,  intention,  and  effect  were  in  favour  of  the 
general  good,  of  morals,  and  of  life.  Yet  it  was  slavery;  and  we 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  31 


take  liberty  here  to  say,  although  some  may  not  be  prepared  to 
receive  it,  that  such  ever  was,  is  now,  and  ever  will  be  the  spirit, 
intention,  and  effect  of  slavery,  when  not  disfigured  by  its  abuse. 
We  have  in  vain  looked  through  these  "  Elements"  for  some 
proposal  of  the  author  to  meet  such  cases  as  those  of  savages,  and 
of  those  degenerating  and  deteriorating  poor,  in  all  countries, 
known  to  be  so  from  the  fact  that  they  ever  strive  to  live  by  their 
wits.  And  here  we  may  remark  that  it  is  evident  the  system  of 
alms-giving  must  terminate  when  the  capitalists  shall  find  the 
amount  of  alms  beyond  their  surplus  revenue ;  and  no  one  will 
deny  that  the  whole  system  has  a  direct  tendency  towards  a 
general  bankruptcy.  We  therefore  ask  Dr.  Wayland  to  make  a 
proposal  that  shall  be  a  permanent  and  effectual  remedy  in  the 
cases  tfnder  consideration. 

Now,  very  few  will  say,  but  that  if  society  can  find  out  some 
humane  plan  by  which  beggars  and  thieves  can  be  forced,  if  force 
be  necessary,  to  yield  a  product  of  labour  equal  to  the  supply  of 
their  necessary  wants,  the  ordinances  of  God  will  not  sanction  the 
act. 

From  imperfection,  perhaps,  in  the  organization  of  society,  we 
not  only  see  individuals  branching  off,  and  taking  a  downward  road, 
but  also,  in  all  old  countries,  from  the  very  stimulus  of  nature, 
a  constant  tendency  to  such  an  increase  of  population  as  lessens 
the  value  of  labour  by  overstocking  the  demand,  whereby  its 
product  becomes  less  than  is  required  for  the  supply  of  individual 
wants.  The  consequences  resulting  from  these  facts,  so  ruinous 
to  individual  morals  and  happiness,  often  become  national  evils 
and  the  causes  of  national  deterioration.  But,  under  the  Levitical 
law,  and  in  all  countries  with  similar  provisions,  the  effect  has 
been,  and  ever  will  be,  a  division  of  such  population  into  a  separate 
caste, — not  national  deterioration. 

With  a  view  to  remedy  the  evils  to  which  we  have  invited  the 
attention  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wayland,  Sismondi,  book  vii.  chap.  9, 
has  proposed,  that  inasmuch,  as  he  says,  the  low  wages  of  the  la 
bouring  poor  redound  wholly  to  the  pecuniary  benefit  of  the  capi 
talists  who  employ  them,  those  capitalists  shall  be  charged  by  law 
with  their  support,  when  wages  become  too  low  to  supply  the  ne 
cessary  wants  of  the  labourer ;  at  the  same  time  bestowing  power 
on  the  capitalists  to  prevent  all  marriages  when  the  labourer  can 
give  no  evidence  of  a  prospect  of  increased  means  of  subsistence, 
satisfactory  to  the  capitalist,  that  he  will  not  be  burdened  with  the 


32  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


support  of  the  offspring.  We  are,  by  no  means,  the  advocates  of 
Sismondi's  proposed  arrangement.  But  if  the  labourers,  since  in 
some  sense  they  may  be  considered  freemen,  give  their  consent  to 
it,  we  do  not  perceive  that  it  would  be  uat  variance  with  the 
ordinances  of  God." 

The  author  of  these  "Elements"  and  Sismondi,  we  believe, 
differed  little,  if  any,  on  the  subject  of  the  abolition  of  slavery 
touching  the  negro  race.  Will  he  say,  the  proposal  of  that 
philosopher  to  benefit  the  condition  of  the  labouring  poor,  if  car 
ried  into  effect  as  suggested,  would  be  "  at  variance  with  the  ordi 
nances  of  God  ?"  Yet,  all  the  world  perceive  that  it  is  a  mere 
modification  of  slavery,  containing  conditions  more  obnoxious  to 
human  nature  than  appertains  to  any  condition  of  slavery  now 
known  beyond  the  African  shores.  * 

Man  has  ever  been  found  to  advance  in  moral  improvement 
civilization,  and  a  stable  and  healthy  increase  of  population,  only 
in  proportion  as  they  have  been  taught  to  supply  their  necessary 
wants  by  the  products  of  individual  labour.  This  is  what  first 
distinguishes  civilized  from  savage  life.  The  savage  relies  wholly 
upon  the  elements,  the  casualties  that  bring  him  advantage,  and 
the  spontaneous  productions  of  nature.  The  idea  of  supplying 
his  wants  through  the  products  of  labour  never  enters  the  mind. 
And  will  it  be  denied  that,  even  in  civilized  countries,  they  who 
solely  rely  upon  begging,  trick,  and  dishonesty,  for  their  support, 
are  always  found  to  be  deteriorating,  both  in  morals  and  in  their 
physical  ability,  rapidly  receding  from  all  the  characteristics  of 
civilization,  in  the  direction  towards  savage  life.  Indeed,  a  tend 
ency  to  move  in  the  same  direction  is  often  perceptible  among 
those  who  only  partially  supply  the  wants  of  civilized  support  by 
the  product  of  individual  labour,  and  rely  upon  their  wits  for  the 
remainder,  thus,  to  some  extent,  becoming  the  plunderers  of  so 
ciety.  We  would  have  been  happy  to  have  found  the  causes  why 
these  things  are  so,  as  well  as  to  have  found  the  remedy,  in  "  The 
Elements  of  Moral  Science." 

But  let  us  contemplate,  for  a  moment,  a  certain  class  of  free 
men,  the  lazaroni  of  Italy,  who  exist,  merely,  upon  one  small  dish 
of  macaroni,  daily  issued  to  them  from  the  Hospital  of  St.  Lazarus. 
We  are  all  familiar  with  the  condition  of  these  people.  Let  us 
compare  theirs  with  what  would  be  the  condition  of  the  beggars 
and  thieves  of  some  other  countries,  were  they  placed  under  the 
control  of  some  salutary  power,  whereby  their  necessary  wants 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  33 

be  supplied  by  the  product  of  their  individual  labour.  We 
need  not  ask  which  condition  is  most  "  at  variance  with  the  ordi 
nances  of  God!" 

Dr.  Wayland  has  retained,  for  his  last  witness,  the  old  trite 
charge  that  slavery  impoverishes  the  soil ;  that,  therefore,  it  con 
stantly  "  migrates  from  the  old  to  new  regions,"  "where  alone  the 
accumulated  manure  of  centuries"  can  "sustain  a  system  at  vari 
ance  with  the  laws  of  nature."  "Hence,"  he  says,  "slavery  in 
this  country  is  acknowledged  to  have  impoverished  many  of  our 
most  valuable  districts." 

We  are  not  aware  how  far  Dr.  Wayland  has  founded  this  state 
ment  upon  facts  drawn  from  his  own  observation.  Has  he  done  so 
at  all ;  or  has  he,  carelessly  and  without  reflection,  adopted  it  from 
the  assertions  of  others  notoriously  destitute  of  ability  to  form  an 
opinion  with  accuracy,  or  else  too  deeply  prejudiced  to  give  their 
opinion  any  value  ?  Does  he  wish  us  to  infer  that  the  plough  and 
the  hoe,  in  the  hands  of  a  slave,  communicate  some  peculiar 
poison  to  the  soil ;  and  by  reason  of  which  "  the  ground  shall  not 
henceforth  yield  her  strength  ?"  Will  he  please  explain  how  the 
effect  of  which  he  complains  is  produced  ?  If  he  finds  it  merely 
in  the  mode  of  cultivation,  we  then  inquire  whether  the  same  mode 
would  not  produce  the  same  effect,  even  if  the  plough  and  hoe  were 
held  by  freemen  ?  If  so,  then  it  is  evident  that  "  the  impoverish 
ment  of  many  of  our  most  valuable  districts"  is  not  the  result  of 
slavery,  but  of  a  bad  mode  of  cultivation.  Or,  will  the  doctor  con 
tend  that  if  those  valuable  districts  had  been  cultivated  by  free 
hired  men,  the  evils  from  negligence  in  the  labourer  would  be 
remedied  ?  "  He  that  is  a  hireling  fleeth,  because  he  is  a  hire 
ling,  and  careth  not  for  the  sheep."  John  x.  13. 

Dr.  Wayland  will  not  deny  that  the  "heathen  round  about,"  of 
whom  the  Jews  were  permitted  to  buy  slaves,  were  a  slave-holding 
people ;  but  we  have  no  account  that  their  country  was  impoverished 
thereby.  The  Canaanites,  whom  the  Israelites  drove  out  from  Pales 
tine,  were  slaveholders ;  yet  the  country  was  represented  as  very 
fertile,  even  to  "overflowing  with  milk  and  honey."  The  Danites 
found  "Laish  very  good,"  Judg.  xviii.  9.  And  the  children  of 
Judah  "found  fat  pasture  and  good"  about  Gedar.  1  Ohron.iv.  40. 
"For  they  of  Ham  had  dwelt  there  of  old!" 

For  many  centuries,  slavery  extended  over  every  part  of  Europe, 
yet  history  gives  us  no  account  of  the  ruin  of  the  soil.  In  Greece 
and  Rome,  the  numbers  of  slaves  were  extended  to  millions  beyond 


34  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

any  number  these  States  possess  ;  but  their  historians  failed  to 
discover  their  destructive  influence  on  the  fertility  of  those 
countries. 

Before  the  impoverishment  of  the  soil  can,  with  any  force,  be 
adduced  as  proof  against  slavery,  it  must  be  proved  to  be  a  neces 
sary  consequence ;  which,  we  apprehend,  will  be  a  difficult  labour, 
since  the  sluggishness  and  the  idleness  of  the  Canaanites,  and  of 
the  nations  round  about,  left  their  country  overflowing  with  milk 
and  honey,  abounding  in  fat  pastures  and  good,  notwithstanding 
their  population  were,  to  a  large  extent,  slaves  ; — since,  also,  the 
servile  cultivation  of  the  soil  in  Greece  and  Rome  did  not  impove 
rish  it ;  and  since  slavery,  which  everywhere  abounded  in  Europe, 
never  produced  that  effect. 

If  Dr.  Wayland  will  discover  the  legitimate  cause  of  this  impove 
rishment  of  the  soil  in  the  Slave  States,  and  teach  the  planters  a 
better  mode  of  cultivation,  we  doubt  not  he  will  receive  their 
thanks,  and  deserve  well  of  his  country,  as  a  public  benefactor. 


LESSON  VII. 

DR.  WAYLAND  says : 

P.  209.  "The  moral  precepts  of  the  Bible  are  diametrically 
opposed  to  slavery." 

P.  210.  "The  moral  principles  of  the  gospel  are  directly  sub 
versive  of  the  principles  of  slavery."  "If  the 
gospel  be  diametrically  opposed  to  the  principles  of  slavery,  it 
must  be  opposed  to  the  practice  of  slavery ;  and,  therefore,  were 
the  principles  of  the  gospel  fully  adopted,  slavery  could  not  exist." 

Dr.  Wayland  having  conceived  himself  to  possess  a  distinct 
faculty,  which  reveals  to  him,  with  unerring  truthfulness,  whatever 
is  right  and  all  that  is  wrong,  may  be  expected  to  consider  himself 
fully  able  to  decide,  in  his  own  way,  what  instruction  God  intended 
to  convey  to  us,  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  through  the  books  of 
Divine  revelation ;  yet,  we  cannot  but  imagine  that  St.  Paul  would 
be  somewhat  astonished,  if  presented  with  the  doctor's  decision 
for  his  approval,  and  that  he  would  cry  out : 

"Who  art  thou  that  judgest  another  man's  servant?     To  his 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


35 


own  master,  he  standeth,  or  falleth  :  yea,  he  will  be  holden  up ; 
for  God  is  able  to  make  him  stand." 

But  although  we  cannot  boast  of  possessing  this  unerring  moral 
guide,  which,  of  late  years,  seems  to  be  so  common  a  possession 
among  that  class  who  ardently  desire  us  to  believe  that  they  have 
monopolized  all  the  knowledge  of  God's  will  on  the  subject  of 
slavery,  yet  we  may  venture  a  remark  on  the  logical  accuracy  of 
Dr.  Wayland's  argument. 

It  seems  to  be  a  postulate  in  his  mind  that  the  gospel  is  diame 
trically  opposed  to,  and  subversive  of,  the  principles  of  slavery. 
We  do  not  complain  of  this  syllogistic  mode ;  but  we  do  complain, 
as  we  have  done  before,  that  his  postulate  is  not  an  axiom,  a  self- 
evident  truth,  or  made  equal  thereto  by  the  open  and  clear  decla 
rations  of  Christ  or  his  apostles.  This  defect  cannot  be  remedied 
by  ever  so  many  suppositions,  nor  by  deductions  therefrom.  Nor 
will  those  of  a  different  faith  from  Dr.  Wayland,  on  the  subject  of 
"  conscience,"  or  "  moral  sense,"  be  satisfied  to  receive  the  declara 
tions  of  this  his  "distinct  faculty"  as  the  fixed  decrees  of  eternal 
truth.  His  assertions  and  arguments  may  be  very  convincing  to 
those  who  think  they  possess  this  distinct  faculty,  especially  if 
their  education  and  prejudices  tend  to  the  same  conclusion. 

But  if  what  President  Wayland  says  about  slavery  be  true,  then 
to  hold  slaves  is  a  most  heinous  sin ;  and  he  who  does  so,  and  never 
repents,  can  never  visit  Paul  in  heaven.  He  necessarily  is  placed 
on  a  parallel  with  the  thief  and  robber ;  and  Dr.  Channing  has  been 
bold  enough  to  say  so. 

But  has  Paul  ever  hinted  to  us  any  such  thing  as  that  the  hold 
ing  of  slaves  is  a  sin  ?  Yet  he  gives  us  instruction  on  the  subject 
and  relations  of  slavery.  What  excuse  had  St.  Paul  for  not  telling 
us  what  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wayland  now  tells  us,  if  what  he  has 
told  us  be  true  ?  And  if  it  be  true,  what  are  we  to  think  of  Paul's 
verity,  when  he  asserts  that  he  has  "  not  shunned  to  declare  all  the 
counsel  of  God  ?" 

Did  Jesus  Christ  ever  hint  such  an  idea  as  Dr.  Wayland's  ? 
What  are  we  to  understand,  when  he  addresses  God,  the  Father, 
and  says,  "  I  have  given  unto  them  the  words  thou  gavest  me,  and 
they  have  received  them  ?"  What  are  we  to  deduce  from  his  re 
mark  on  a  slaveholder,  and  who  notified  him  of  that  fact,  when  he 
says  to  his  disciples,  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  I  have  not  found  so 
great  faith,  no,  not  in  Israel  ?"  What  impression  was  this  remark 
calculated  to  produce  on  the  minds  of  the  disciples  ?  Does  Dr. 


36  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


Wayland  found  his  assertion  on  Luke  xvii.  7-10  ?  or  does  he  agree 
with  Paley  that  Christ  privately  condemned  slavery  to  the  apostles, 
and  that  they  kept  such  condemnation  secret  to  themselves,  to  pre 
vent  opposi^pn  to  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  and  left  the 
most  wicked  sin  of  slave-holding  to  be  found  out  by  a  me$e  innu 
endo  ?  Or  does  Dr.  Wayland  claim,  through  the  aid.  of  his  distinct 
moral  faculty  infallibly  teaching  him  the  truth,  to  have  received 
some  new  light  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  which  the  FATHER 
deemed  not  prudent  to  be  intrusted  to  the  SON,  and,  therefore, 
now  more  lucid  and  authoritative  than  what  was  revealed  to  the 
apostles  ?  '  i 

The  Archbishop  Seeker  has  made  a  remark  which  appears  to 
us  conclusive,  and  also  exactly  to  fit  the  case.  In  his  Fifth  Lec 
ture  on  the  Catechism,  he  says  : — 

"  Supposing  the  Scripture  a  true  revelation,  so  far  as  it  goes ; 
how  shall  we  know,  if  it  be  a  full  and  complete  one  too,  in  all 
things  necessary  ?  I  answer :  Since  our  Saviour  had  the  Spirit 
without  measure,  and  the  writers  of  Scripture  had  as  large  a  mea 
sure  of  it  as  their  commission  to  instruct  the  world  required,  it  is 
impossible  that,  in  so  many  discourses  concerning  the  terms  of 
salvation  as  the  New  Testament  contains,  they  should  all  have 
omitted  any  one  thing  necessary  to  the  great  end  which  they  had 
in  view.  And  what  was  not  necessary  when  the  Scripture  was 
completed,  cannot  have  become  so  since.  For  theTarth  was,  once 
for  all,  i  delivered  to  the  saints,'  Jude  3 ;  and  f  other  foundation 
can  no  man  lay,'  1  Cor.  iii.  11,  than  what  was  laid  then.  The 
sacred  penmen  themselves  could  teach  no  other  doctrine  than  Christ 
appointed  them ;  and  he  hath  appointed  no  one  since  to  make  ad 
dition  to  it." 

But  it  may  be  proper  to  take  some  further  notice  how  the  author 
of  these  "Elements"  attempts  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  proposi 
tion  that  "  the  moral  precepts  of  the  Bible  are  diametrically  op 
posed  to  slavery."  He  says,  "  God  can  make  known  to  us  his 
will,  either  directly  or  indirectly." 

He  may,  in  express  terms,  command  or  forbid  a  thing  ;  this  will 
be  directly  ; — or  he  may  command  certain  duties,  or  impose  certain 
obligations,  with  which  some  certain  course  of  conduct  is  incon 
sistent  ;  in  which  case  the  inconsistent  course  of  conduct  will  be 
indirectly  forbidden. 

We  have  not  followed  Dr.  Wayland's  exact  words,  because  we 
found  them  somewhat  confused,  and  rather  ambiguous.  We  prefer 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  37 

to  have  the  case  clearly  stated,  and  we  then  accept  the  terms,  and 
repeat  the  question,  "  Has  God  imposed  obligations  on  man  which 
are  inconsistent  with  the  existence  of  domestic  slavery?" 

In  proof  that  he  has,  Dr.  Wayland  presents  the  Christian  duty 
"  to  preach  the  gospel  to  all  nations  and  men,  without  respect  to 
circumstances  or  condition."  We  agree  that  such  is  our  duty,  so 
far  as  we  may  have  the  power ;  and  it  appears  to  us  strange 
how  that  duty  can  interfere  with  the  existence  of  slavery,  because 
the  practical  fact  is,  slavery  brings^  hundreds  of  thousands  of  ne 
groes  into  a  condition  whereby  the  duty  may  be  performed,  and 
many  thereby  do  come  to  some  knowledge  of  the  gospel,  who  would, 
otherwise,  have  none. 

Every  Christian  slaveholder  feels  it  to  be  his  duty.  Is  it  denied 
that  this  duty  is  ever  performed  ? 

But  if  it  is  incompatible  with  the  institution  of  slavery  for  the 
slave  to  be  taught  Christianity,  then  Christianity  and  slavery  can 
never  co-exist  in  the  same  person.  Therefore,  Dr.  Wayland  must 
prove  that  no  slave  can  be  a  Christian,  before  this  argument  can 
have  weight. 

The  man  who  owns  a  slave  has  a  trust ;  he  who  has  a  child  has 
one  also.  In  both  cases  the  trustee  may  do  as  he  did  who  "  dug 
in  the  earth  and  hid  his  lord's  money."  We  cheerfully  deliver 
them  upito  the  lash  of  Dr.  Wayland.  r 

The -auihor  of  the  "Elements  of  Moral  Science"  next  presents 
the  marriage'contract,  and  seems  desirous  to  have  us  suppose  that 
its  obligations  are  incompatible  with  slavery.  His  words  are — 

"  He  has  taught  us  that  the  conjugal  relation  is  established  by 
himself ;  that  husband  and  wife  are  joined  together  by  God ;  and 
that  man  may  not  put  them  asunder.  The  marriage  contract  is  a 
contract  for  life,  and  is  dissoluble  only  for  one  cause,  that  of  con 
jugal  infidelity.  Any  system  that  interferes  with  this  contract, 
and  claims  to  make  it  any  thing  else  than  what  God  has  made  it, 
is  in  violation  of  his  law." 

This  proposition  is  bad ;  it  is  too  verbose  to  be  either  definite  or 
correct.  There  are  many  things  that  will  interfere  with  the  pro 
visions  of  this  proposition,  and  yet  not  be  in  violation  of  the  laws 
of  God.  Suppose  one  of  President  Wayland's  pupils  has  married 
a  wife,  and  yet  commits  a  crime.  He  is  arrested,  and  the  president 
is  his  judge.  When  about  to  pronounce  sentence  of  imprisonment 
for  life,  the  pupil  reads  to  his  judge  the  foregoing  paragraph,  and 
argues  that  be  cannot  receive  such  sentence,  because  it  will  inter- 


38  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

fere  with  the  marriage  contract,  and,  therefore,  be  in  violation  of 
the  laws  of  God, 

We  trust  some  will  deem  this  a  sufficient  refutation  of  the  pro 
position. 

But  if  we  take  the  proposition  as  its  author  has  left  it,  we  have 
yet  to  learn  that  any  slaveholder  will  object  to  it;  although  it 
may  be  he  will  differ  with  them  on  the  subject  of  what  consti 
tutes  Christian  marriage,  among  pagan  negroes  or  their  pagan 
descendants. 

Will  the  reverend  moralist  determine  that  a  promiscuous  inter 
course  is  the  conjugal  relation  established  by  God  himself;  that 
such  is  the  marriage  contract  which  no  man  may  put  asunder? 
Will  he  decide  that  an  attempt  to  regulate  the  conduct  of  men, 
bond  or  free,  who  manifest  such  a  state  of  morals,  is  in  violation 
of  the  laws  of  God  ?  Who  are  his  pupils,  when  he  shall  say  that 
an  attempt  to  enforce  the  laws  of  God,  in  practice  among  men,  is 
a  violation  of  them  ? 

So  far  as  our  experience  goes,  masters  universally  manifest  a 
desire  to  have  their  negroes  marry,  and  to  live  with  their  wives  and 
children,  in  conformity  to  Christian  rules.  And  one  reason,  if  no 
other,  is  very  obvious.  The  master  wishes  to  secure  the  peace  and 
tranquillity  of  his  household.  And  we  take  this  occasion  to  inform 
Dr.  Wayland  and  his  coadjutors,  that  a  very  large  proportion  of 
the  punishments  that  are  awarded  slaves  are  for  violations  of  what, 
perhaps,  he  may  call'the  marriage  contract,  so  anxious  is  the  mas 
ter  to  inculcate  the  obligations  of  marriage  among  them. 

It  is  true,  some  slaves  of  a  higher  order  of  physical  and  moral 
improvement,  influenced  by  the  habits  and  customs  of  their  masters, 
habituate  themselves  to  a  cohabitation  with  one  companion  for  life  ; 
and,  in  all  such  cases,  the  master  invariably  gives  countenance  to 
their  wishes ;  indeed,  in  some  instances,  masters  have  deemed  them 
worthy  of  having  their  wishes  sanctioned  and  solemnized  by  the 
ceremonies  of  the  church  ritual.  And  in  all  such  cases,  superior 
consideration  and  advantages  are  always  bestowed,  not  only  in 
reward  of  their  merit,  but  as  an  encouragement  for  others. 

The  African  negro  has  no  idea  of  marriage  as  a  sacred  ordinance 
of  God.  Many  of  the  tribes  worship  a  Fetish,  which  is  a  per 
sonification  of  their  gross  notions  of  procreation  ;  but  it  inculcates 
no  idea  like  that  of  marriage ;  and  we  have  known  the  posterity 
of  that  people,  four  or  five  generations  removed  from  the  African 
native,  as  firmly  attached  to  those  strange  habits  as  if  they  had 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  39 

been  constitutional.  Negroes,  who  have  only  arrived  to  such  a 
state  of  mental  and  moral  development,  would  find  it  somewhat 
difficult  to  comprehend  what  the  Christian  church  implied  by  the 
marriage  covenant !  Therefore,  where  there  was  no  reason  to  be 
lieve  that  its  duties  were  understood,  or  that  their  habits  and  con 
duct  would  be  influenced  by  it  any  longer  than  until  they  should 
take  some  new  notion,  a  ceremony  of  any  high  order  has  been 
thought  to  do  injury.  A  rule,  often  broken,  ceases  to  be  venerated. 
And  we  feel  quite  sure  that  some  Christians  would  deem  it  quite 
improper  to  permit  those  to  join  in  any  sacred  ceremony  which 
neither  their  physical  nor  mental  development  would  permit  them 
to  comprehend  or  obey,  whether  freemen  or  slaves. 

In  the  articles  drawn  up  at  Ratisbon  by  Melancthon,  we  find, 
Article  16,  De  Sacram.  Matrimo.: 

"  The  sacrament  of  matrimony  belongs  only  to  Christians.  It 
is  a  holy  and  constant  union  of  one  single  man  with  one  single 
woman,  confirmed  by  the  blessing  and  consecration  of  Jesus 
Christ." 

And  St.  Paul  says,  Eph.  v.  32,  of  matrimony :  "  This  is  a  great 
mystery:  but  I  speak  concerning  Christ  and  the  Church." 

We  know  not  whether  the  author  of  the  "Elements"  believes, 
with  Melancthon,  that  matrimony  is  a  Christian  sacrament  or  not. 
We  believe  the  majority  of  modern  Protestants  do  not  so  consider 
it,  although  Luther  says,  De  Matrimonio : 

"  Matrimony  is  called  a  sacrament,  because  it  is  the  type  of  a 
very  noble  and  very  holy  thing.  Hence  the  married  ought  to  con 
sider  and  respect  the  dignity  of  this  sacrament." 

Question : — Would  Melancthon,  or  Luther,  or  the  author  of  these 
"  Elements,"  consent  to  perform  the  marriage  ceremony,  joining, 
in  the  holy  bonds  of  matrimony,  two  negroes,  who  neither  under 
stood  the  Christian  duties  it  imposed,  and  of  whom  it  was  well 
known  that  they  would  not  regard  the  contract  as  binding  any 
longer  than  their  fancy  or  passions  might  dictate.  A  Christian 
sacrament  is  not  only  a  sign  of  Christian  grace,  but  the  seal  of  its 
insurance  to  us,  and  the  instrument  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  whereby 
faith  is  conferred,  as  a  Divine  gift,  upon  the  soul.  We  feel  it  a 
Christian  duty  to  unot  give  that  which  is  holy  to  dogs,"  nor  "cast 
pearls  before  swine."  Is  Dr.  Wayland  of  the  same  opinion  ? 

It  may  be  well  to  advise  our  author  of  some  facts  in  proof  of 
what  state  of  connubial  feelings  exist  among  African  negroes. 
We  quote  from  Lander,  vol.  i.  p.  312  : 


40  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


"  The  manners  of  the  Africans  are  hostile  to  the  interests  and 
advancement  of  women." 

P.  328.  "  A  man  is  at  liberty  to  return  his  wife  to  her  parents, 
at  any  time,  without  adducing  any  reason  for  his  dislike."  *  *  * 
"  The  children,  if  any,  the  mother  is  by  no  means  permitted  to 
take  along  with  her ;  but  they  are  left  behind  with  the  father,  who 
delivers  them  over  to  the  care  of  other  women." 

P.  158.  "  A  man  thinks  as  little  of  taking  a  wife  as  of  cutting 
an  ear  of  corn  ;  affection  is  altogether  out  of  the  question." 

Vol.  ii.  p.  208.  "Africans,  generally  speaking,  betray  the  most 
perfect  indifference  on  losing  their  liberty,  or  in  being  deprived  of 
their  relations  ;  while  love  of  country  is,  seemingly,  as  great  a 
stranger  to  their  breasts  as  social  tenderness  and  domestic  affec 
tion." 

We  quote  from  the  Christian  Observer,  vol.  xix.  p.  890  :  "  Mr. 
Johnson  was  appointed  to  the  care  of  Regent's  Town,  June,  1816. 
*  *  *  Natives  of  twenty-two  different  nations  were  there 
collected  together  :  *  *  *  none  of  them  had  learned  to  live 
in  a  state  of  marriage." 

Proofs  of  this  trait  in  the  African  character  may  be  accumulated ; 
and  a  very  determined  disposition  to  live  in  a  state  of  promiscuous 
intercourse  is  often  noticeable,  in  their  descendants,  for  many 
generations,  notwithstanding  the  master  endeavours  to  restrain  it 
by  corporeal  punishment.  But  yet,  under  this  state  of  facts,  our 
laws  forbid  the  separation  of  children  from  mothers,  under  ages 
stipulated  by  law. 

It  is  the  interest  of  the  master  to  have  his  slaves  orderly — to 
possess  them  of  some  interest  which  will  have  a  tendency  to  that 
result.  Their  quiet  settlement  in  families  has  been  thought  to  be 
among  the  most  probable  and  influential  inducements  to  insure  the 
desired  effect,  and  to  produce  a  moral  influence  on  them.  Besides 
this  interest  of  the  master,  his  education  on  the  subject  of  marriage 
must  be  allowed  to  have  a  strong  influence  on  his  mind  to  favour 
and  foster  in  his  slaves  a  connection  which  his  own  judgment 
teaches  him  must  be  important  to  their  happiness  and  his  own 
tranquillity,  to  say  nothing  of  his  duty  as  a  Christian.  Indeed, 
we  never  heard  of  a  master  who  did  not  feel  a  strong  desire,  a 
pride,  to  see  his  slaves  in  good  condition,  contented  and  happy; 
and  we  venture  to  assert,  that  no  man,  who  entertained  a  proper 
regard  for  his  own  character,  would  consent  to  sell  a  family  of 
slaves,  separately,  to  different  individuals,  when  the  slaves  them- 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  41 

selves  manifested  good  conduct,  and  a  habit,  or  desire,  to  live 
together  in  conformity  to  the  rules  of  civilized  life.  Even  a  casual 
cohabitation  is  often  caught  at  by  the  master,  and  sanctioned,  as 
permanent,  if  he  can  do  so  in  accordance  with  the  conduct  and 
feelings  of  the  negroes  themselves. 

That  the  owners  of  slaves  have  sometimes  abused  the  power 
they  possessed,  and  outraged  the  feelings  of  humanity  in  this 
behalf,  is  doubtless  a  fact.  Nor  do  we  wish  to  excuse  such  con 
duct,  by  saying  that  proud  and  wealthy  parents  sometimes  outrage 
the  feelings  of  common  sense  and  of  their  own  children  in  a 
somewhat  similar  way.  These  are  abuses  that  can  be,  and  should 
be  corrected ;  and  we  are  happy  to  inform  Dr.  Wayland  that  we 
have  lived  to  see  many  abuses  corrected,  and  hope  that  many  more 
corrections  may  follow  in  their  train.  But  we  assure  him  that  the 
wholesale  denunciations  of  men  who,  in  fact,  know  but  little  about 
the  subjects  of  their  distress,  may  produce  great  injury  to  the 
objects  of  their  sympathies,  but  no  possible  benefit.  And  let  us 
now,  with  the  best  feeling,  inform  Dr.  Wayland,  and  his  co-agita 
tors,  of  one  result  of  his  and  their  actions  in  this  matter.  We 
assert  what  we  know. 

Thirty  years  ago,  we  occasionally  had  schools  for  negro  children ; 
nor  was  it  uncommon  for  masters  to  send  their  favourite  young 
slaves  to  these  schools ;  nor  did  such  acts  excite  attention  or 
alarm ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  any  missionary  had  free  access  to 
that  class  of  our  population.  But  when  we  found,  with  astonish 
ment,  that  our  country  was  flooded  with  abolition  prints,  deeply 
laden  with  the  most  abusive  falsehoods,  with  the  obvious  design  to 
excite  rebellion  among  the  slaves,  and  to  spread  assassination  and 
bloodshed  through  the  land ; — when  we  found  these  transient  mis-, 
sionaries,  mentally  too  insignificant  to  foresee  the  result  of  their 
conduct,  or  wholly  careless  of  the  consequences,  preaching  the 
same  doctrines ; — these  little  schools  and  the  mouths  of  these 
missionaries  were  closed.  And  great  was  the  cry.  Dr.  Wayland 
knows  whereabout  lies  the  wickedness  of  these  our  acts  !  Let 
him  and  his  coadjutors  well  understand  that  these  results, 
whether  for  the  benefit  or  injury  of  the  slave,  have  been  brought 
about  by  the  work  of  their  hands. 

If  these  transient  missionaries  were  the  only  persons  who  had 
power  to  teach  the  gospel  to  the  slave,  who  has  deprived  the  slaves 
of  the  gospel  ? 

If  these  suggestions  are  true,  will  not  Dr.  Wayland  look  back 


42  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 

upon  his  labours  with  dissatisfaction  ?  Does  he  behold  their  effects 
\vith  joy  ?  Has  he  thrown  one  ray  of  light  into  the  mental  dark 
ness  of  benighted  Africa  ?  Has  he  removed  one  pain  from  the 
moral  disease  of  her  benighted  children?  If  so  perfectly  adverse 
have  been  his  toils,  will  he  expect  us  to  countenance  his  school, 
sanction  his  morality,  or  venerate  his  theology  ?  A  very  small 
portion  of  poison  makes  the  feast  fatal ! 

Does  he  complain  because  some  freemen  lower  themselves  down 
to  this  promiscuous  intercourse  with  the  negro  ?  We  are  dumb ; 
we  deliver  them  up  to  his  lash !  Or  does  he  complain  because  we 
do  not  marry  them  ourselves?  We  surely  have  yet  to  learn, 
because  we  decline  such  marriages,  and  a  deteriorated  posterity, 
that,  therefore,  we  interfere  with  the  institution  of  marriage,  or 
make  it  something  which  God  did  not.  We  had  thought  that  the 
laws  of  God  all  looked  towards  a  state  of  physical,  intellectual,  and 
moral  improvement ;  and  that  such  an  amalgamation  as  would 
necessarily  leave  a  more  deteriorated  race  in  our  stead,  would  be 
sin,  and  would  be  punished,  if  in  no  other  way,  yet  still  by  the 
very  fact  of  such  degradation.  Or  does  Dr.  Wayland  deny  that 
the  negro  is  an  inferior  race  of  man  to  the  white  ?  If  the  slave 
and  master  were  of  the  same  race,  as  they  once  were  in  all  parts 
of  Europe,  intermarriage  between  them  would  blot  out  the  institu 
tion,  as  it  has  done  there.  In  such  case,  his  argument  might  have 
some  force. 

Under  the  Spanish  law,  a  master  might  marry  his  female  slave, 
or  he  might  suffer  any  freeman  to  marry  her ;  but  the  marriage, 
in  either  case,  was  emancipation  to  her.  The  wife  was  no  longer 
a  slave ;  and  so  by  the  Levitical  law.  See  Deut.  xxi.  14. 

The  laws  of  the  Slave  States  of  our  Union  forbid  amalgamation 
with  the  negro  race ;  consequently  such  a  marriage  would  be  a 
nullity,  and  the  offspring  take  the  condition  of  the  mother. 

The  object  of  this  law  is  to  prevent  the  deterioration  of  the 
white  race. 

Thus  we  have  seen  that  all  the  practical  facts  relating  to  the 
influence  of  the  slavery  of  the  Africans  among  us,  touching  the 
subject  of  marriage,  as  to  them,  are  in  opposition  to  what  Dr.  Way- 
land  seems  to  suppose.  In  short,  the  slavery  of  the  negroes  in 
these.  States  has  a  constantly  continued  tendency  to  change — to 
enforce  an  improvement  of  the  morals  of  the  African — to  an  ap 
proximation  of  the  habits  of  Christian  life. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  43 


LESSON  VIII. 

IT  is  conceded  by  Dr.  Wayland,  that  the  Scriptures  do  not  di 
rectly  forbid  or  condemn  slavery.  In  search  of  a  path  over  this 
morass  of  difficulty,  he  says  that  the  Scripture  goes  upon  the  "  fair 
ground  of  teaching  moral  principles"  "directly  subversive  of  the 
principles  of  slavery;"  and  quotes  the  golden  rule  in  proof;  and 
thus  comes  to  the  conclusion  that,  "  if  the  gospel  be  diametrically 
opposed  to  the  principle  of  slavery,  it  must  be  opposed  to  the 
practice  of  slavery."  In  excuse  for  this  mode  being  pursued  by 
the  Author  of  our  religion,  he  says — 

P.  212.  "In  this  manner  alone  could  its  object,  a  universal 
moral  revolution,  have  been  accomplished.  For,  if  it  had  forbidden 
the  evil,  instead  of  subverting  the  principle, — if  it  had  proclaimed 
the  unlawfulness  of  slavery  and  taught  slaves  to  resist  the  oppres 
sion  of  their  masters, — it  would  instantly  have  arrayed  the  two 
parties  in  deadly  hostility,  through  the  civilized  world;  its  an 
nouncement  would  have  been  the  signal  of  servile  war ;  and  the 
very  name  of  the  Christian  religion  would  have  been  forgotten 
amidst  the  agitations  of  universal  bloodshed." 

We  have  heretofore  attempted  to  show  that  this  doctrine  is  ex 
tremely  gross  error ; — its  very  assertion  goes  to  the  extinction, 
the  denial  of  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  religion.  And 
we  deeply  lament  that  this  was  not  one  of  the  errors  of  Paley 
which  Dr.  Wayland  has  seen  fit  to  expunge  from  his  book.  (See 
his  Preface.) 

Paley  says,  third  book,  part  ii.  chap.  3 — "  Slavery  was  a  part 
of  the  civil  constitution  of  most  countries,  when  Christianity  first 
appeared  ;  yet  no  passage  is  to  be  found  in  the  Christian  Scrip 
tures  by  which  it  is  condemned  or  prohibited.  This  is  true,  for 
Christianity,  soliciting  admission  into  all  nations  of  the  world, 
abstained,  as  behooved  it,  from  intermeddling  with  the  civil  insti 
tutions  of  any.  But  does  it  follow,  from  the  silence  of  Scripture 
concerning  them,  that  all  the  civil  institutions  which  then  prevailed 
were  right?  Or  that  the  bad  should  not  be  exchanged  for 
better?" 

"  Besides  this,  the  discharging  the  slaves  from  all  obligation  to 
obey  their  masters,  which  is  the  consequence  of  pronouncing 


44  STUDIES   ON   SLAV7ERY. 

slavery  to  be  unlawful,  would  have  had  no  better  effect  than  to  let 
loose  one  half  of  mankind  upon  the  other.  Slaves  would  have 
been  tempted  to  embrace  a  religion  which  asserted  their  right  to 
freedom  ;  masters  would  hardly  have  been  persuaded  to  consent  to 
claims  founded  on  such  authority ;  the  most  calamitous  of  all  con 
tests,  a  bellum  servile,  might  probably  have  ensued,  to  the  reproach, 
if  not  the  extinction,  of  the  Christian  name." 

In  these  thoughtless  remarks  of  Paley,  abolition  writers  seem  to 
have  found  a  mine  of  argument,  from  which  they  have  dug  until 
they  deemed  themselves  wealthy. 

Channing,  vol.  ii.  p.  101,  says — 

"  Slavery,  in  the  age  of  the  apostle,  had  so  penetrated  society, 
was  so  intimately  interwoven  with  it,  and  the  materials  of  servile 
war  were  so  abundant,  that  a  religion  preaching  freedom  to  the 
slave  would  have  shaken  the  social  fabric  to  its  foundation,  and 
would  have  armed  against  itself  the  whole  power  of  the  state. 
Paul  did  not  then  assail  the  institution.  He  satisfied  himself  with 
spreading  principles,  which,  however  slowly,  could  not  but  work 
its  dissolution." 

This  author,  thus  having  satisfied  himself  with  a  display  which 
the  greater  portion  of  his  readers  deem  original,  commences, 
p.  103,  and  quotes  from  "  The  Elements  of  Moral  Science,"  p.  212 : 

"This  very  course,  which  the  gospel  takes  on  this  subject,  seems 
to  have  been  the  only  one  that  could  have  been  taken  in  order  to 
effect  the  universal  abolition  of  slavery.  The  gospel  was  designed, 
not  for  one  race  or  for  one  time,  but  for  all  races  and  for  all  times. 
It  looked,  not  at  the  abolition  of  this  form  of  evil  for  that  age 
alone,  but  for  its  universal  abolition.  Hence,  the  important  object 
of  its  author  was  to  gain  it  a  lodgment  in  every  part  of  the  known 
world:"  and  concludes  with  our  quotation  from  the  author. 

Dr.  Barnes  "fights  more  shy;"  he  sees  "the  trap."  The  Bibli 
cal  Repertory  has  unveiled  to  his  view  the  awful  abyss  to  which 
this  doctrine  necessarily  leaps.  Yet  the  abyss  must  be  passed ; 
the  facts,  the  doctrine  of  Paley,  and  the  gulf,  must  be  got  over, 
in  some  way,  or  abolition  doctrines  must  be  given  up.  For  thirty 
pages,  like  a-  candle-fly,  he  coquets  around  the  light  of  this  doc 
trine,  until  he  gathers  courage,  and  finally  falls  into  it  under  the 
plea  0f  "expediency."  He  quotes  Wayland's  Letters  to  Fuller, 
p.  73,  which  says — 

"  This  form  of  expediency — the  inculcating  of  a  fundamental 
truth,  rather  than  of  the  duty  which  springs  immediately  out  of 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  45 

it,  seems  to  me  innocent.  I  go  further :  in  some  cases,  it  may  be 
really  demanded,"  &c. 

u  And  a  certain  ruler  asked  him,  saying,  Good  Master,  what 
shall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life."  Luke  xviii.  18. 

This  man  was  rich — probably  had  slaves.  Was  it  inexpedient 
for  the  Son  of  God  to  have  plainly  told  him  of  its  wickedness  ? 
Was  not  the  occasion  quite  appropriate,  if  such  had  been  the 
Saviour's  view? 

When  the  keeper  of  the  prison  said  to  Paul  and  Silas,  "  Sirs, 
what  shall  I  do  to  be  saved?"  was  it  inexpedient  in  them  to  have 
mentioned  this  sin  ? 

When  the  subject  of  slavery  was  mentioned  in  Corinthians, 
Ephesians,  Colossians,  in  Timothy,  Titus,  and  Peter,  was  it  still  in 
expedient?  .  And  in  the  case  of  Philemon,  "the  dearly  beloved  and 
fellow-labourer,"  when  Paul  was  pleading  for  the  runaway  slave,  in 
what  did  the  inexpediency  consist  ?  When  the  centurion  applied 
to  the  Son  of  God,  and  boasted  that  he  owned  slaves,  can  we  bring 
forward  this  paltry  excuse  ? 

This  doctrine  of  Paley  has  been  so  commonly  quoted,  let  us  be 
excused  for  presenting  a  remark  from  the  "  Essays,"  reprinted 
from  the  Princeton  Review,  second  series,  p.  283 : 

"  It  is  not  by  argument  that  the  abolitionists  have  produced  the 
present  unhappy  excitement.  Argument  has  not  been  the  cha 
racter  of  their  publications.  Denunciations  of  slave-holding  as 
man-stealing,  robbery,  piracy,  and  worse  than  murder ;  conse 
quently  vituperation  of  slaveholders  as  knowingly  guilty  of  the 
worst  of  crimes  ;  passionate  appeals  to  the  feelings  of  the  inhabit 
ants  of  the  Northern  States ;  gross  exaggerations  of  the  moral  and 
physical  condition  of  the  slaves,  have  formed  the  staple  of  their 
addresses  to  the  public." 

P.  286.  "Unmixed  good  or  evil,  however,  in  such  a. world  as 
ours,  is  a  rare  thing.  Though  the  course  pursued  by  the  aboli 
tionists  has  produced  a  great  preponderance  of  mischief,  it  may 
incidentally  occasion  no  little  good.  It  has  rendered  it  incumbent 
on  every  man  to  endeavour  to  obtain,  and,  as  far  as  he  can,  to 
communicate,  definite  opinions  and  correct  principles  on  the  whole 
subject.  *  *  *  The  subject  of  slavery  is  no  longer  one  on 
which  men  are  allowed  to  be  of  no  mind  at  all.  *  *  *  The 
public  mind  is  effectually  aroused  from  a  state  of  indifference ;  and 
it  is  the  duty  of  all  to  seek  the  truth,  and  to  speak  in  kindness, 
but  with  decision.  *  *  We  recognise  no  authoritative  rule 


46  STUDIES  ON  SLAVERY. 

of  truth  and  duty  but  the  word  of  God.  *  *  *  Men  are  too 
nearly  upon  a  par  as  to  their  powers  of  reasoning,  and  ability  to 
discover  truth,  to  make  the  conclusions  of  one  mind  an  authorita 
tive  rule  for  others."  *  *  * 

The  subject  for  consideration  is :  If  the  abolitionists  are  right 
in  insisting  that  slave-holding  is  one  of  the  greatest  of  all  sins, — 
that  it  should  be  immediately  and  universally  abandoned,  as  a  con 
dition  of  church  communion,  or  of  admission  into  heaven, — how 
comes  it  that  Christ  and  his  apostles  did  not  pursue  this  sin  in 
plain  and  determined  opposition  ?  How  comes  it  that  the  teach 
ings  of  the  abolitionists,  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  are  so  ex 
tremely  different  from  those  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  ? 
The  mind  is  forced  to  the  conclusion  that,  if  the  abolitionists  are 
right,  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  are  wrong  !  We  agree  that,  if 
slave-holding  is  a  sin,  it  should  at  once  be  abandoned.  The  whole 
subject  is  resolved  to  one  single  question :  Is  slave-holding,  in  it 
self,  a  crime  before  G-od  ? 

The  abolitionists  say  that  it  is ;  we  assert  that  it  is  not ;  and 
we  look  to  the  conduct  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  to  justify  our 
position.  Did  they  shut  their  eyes  to  the  enormities  of  a  great 
offence  against  God  and  man  ?  Did  they  temporize  with  a  heinous 
evil,  because  it  was  common  and  popular  ?  Did  they  abstain  from 
even  exhorting  masters  to  emancipate  their  slaves,  though  an  im 
perative  duty,  from  fear  of  consequences  ?  Was  slavery  more 
deeply  rooted  than  idolatry  ?  or  more  deeply  interwoven  with 
the  civil  institutions  ?  more  thoroughly  penetrated  through  every 
thing  human — their  prejudices,  literature,  hopes,  and  happiness  ? 
Was  its  denunciation,  if  a  sin,  attended  with -consequences  more 
to  be  dreaded  than  death  by  torture,  wild  beasts,  the  crucifix,  the 
fagot,  and  the  flame?  Did  the  apostles  admit  drunkards,  liars, 
fornicators,  adulterers,  thieves,  robbers,  murderers,  and  idolaters 
to  the  Christian  communion,  and  call  them  "  dearly  beloved  and 
fellow-labourers  ?"  Did  the  Son  of  God  ever  intimate  of  any  such 
unrepentant  man,  that  he  had  "not  found  so  great  faith,  no,  not 
in  Israel?" 

What  are  we  then  to  think  of  the  intellect  of  that  man  who 
shall  affirm  that  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  classed  the  slave 
holder  with  the  worst  of  these  characters  ?  Yea,  what  can  such  a 
man  think  of  himself?  Did  the  apostles  counsel  thieves  and  rob 
bers  how  they  should  advisedly  conduct  themselves  in  the  practice 
of  these  crimes  ?  Were  those  who  had  been  rolled  carefully 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  47 

gathered  up  and  sent  back  to  some  known  robber,  to  be  robbed 
again  ?  And,  on  such  occasion,  did  any  of  the  apostles  address 
such  robber  in  the  language  of  affection,  saying,  "  I  thank  my  God, 
making  mention  of  thee  always  in  my  prayers,  hearing  of  thy 
love  and  faith,  which  thou  hast  towards  the  Lord  Jesus  and  toward 
all  saints?" 

No  one  in  his  senses  will  deny  that  the  Scriptures  condemn  in 
justice,  cruelty,  oppression,  and  violence,  whether  exhibited  in  the 

conduct  of  the  master  towards  his  slave  or  any  other  person : 

crime  being  the  same,  whether  committed  in  the  relation  of  master 
and  slave,  husband  and  wife,  or  the  monarch  and  his  subjects.  It 
may  so  happen  that  great  crimes  are  committed  by  persons  in  these 
relations.  But  what  is  the  argument  worth  which  asserts  it  is  very 
wicked  to  be  a  schoolmaster,  because  some  schoolmaster  whipped 
his  pupil  too  much,  or  another  not  enough,  or  a  third,  in  an  angry, 
wicked  state  of  mind,  has  put  one  to  death  ? 

Who  has  ever  asserted  that  marriage  was  not  a  Divine  institu 
tion,  because  some  in  that  state  live  very  unhappily  together,  and 
others  have  conspired  against  the  happiness  or  life  of  those  whom 
the  institution  made  it  their  duty  to  protect  ? 

Dr.  Wayland's  proposition,  when  analyzed  and  freed  from  verbi 
age,  is  this :  the  teaching  of  moral  principles,  subversive  of  the 
abuse  of  a  thing,  is  proof  that  the  teacher  is  opposed  to  the  thing 
itself!  and,  if  true,  we  say,  is  as  applicable  to  every  other  insti 
tution  among  men,  as  to  slavery. 


LESSON  IX. 

Dn.  WAYLAND  says,  p.  213— 

"  It  is  important  to  remember  that  two  grounds  of  moral  obliga 
tion  are  distinctly  recognised  in  the  gospel.  The  first  is  our  duty 
to  man  as  man,  that  is,  on  the  ground  of  the  relation  which  men 
sustain  to  each  other ;  the  second  is  our  duty  to  man  as  a  creature 
of  God,  that  is,  on  the  ground  of  the  relation  which  we  all  sustain 
to  God.  On  this  latter  ground,  many  things  become  our  duty 
which  would  not  be  so  on  the  former.  It  is  on  this  ground  that 
we  are  commanded  to  return  good  for  evil,  to  pray  for  them  that 
despitefully  us^  us,  and,  when  we  are  smitten  on  one  cheek,  to  turn 
also  the  other  To  act  thus  is  our  duty,  not  because  our  fellow- 


48 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


man  has  a  right  to   claim  this  course  of  conduct  from  us,  but 
oecause  such  conduct  in  us  will  be  well-pleasing  to  God.     And 
when  God  prescribes  the  course  of  conduct  which  will  be  well 
pleasing  to  him,  he  by  no  means  acknowledges  the  right  of  abuse 
in  the  injurious   person,  but   expressly  declares,  'Vengeance   is 
mine  and  I  will  repay  it,  saith  the   Lord!'     Now,  it  is  to  be 
observed,  that  it  is  precisely  upon  this  latter  ground   that   the 
slave  is  commanded  to  obey  his  master.     It  is  never  urged,  like 
the  duty  of  obedience  to  parents,  because  it  is  right;  but  because 
the  cultivation  of  meekness  and  forbearance  under  injury  will  be 
well-pleasing  unto  God.     Thus  servants   are  commanded   to   be 
obedient  to  their  own  masters,  'in  singleness  of  heart,  as  unto 
Christ;  doing  the  will  of  God  from  the  heart,  with  good-will  doing 
service',  as  to  the  Lord,  and  not  to  man.'  Eph.  v.  5-7. 

«  Servants  are  commanded  to  count  their  masters  worthy  ot  all 
honour,  that  the  name  of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed. 
I  Tim.  vi.  1.    That  they  may  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Savio 
in  all  things.   Titus  iii.  9. 

"The  manner  in  which  the  duty  of  servants  or  slaves  is  incul 
cated,  therefore,   affords   no    ground   for  the   assertion   that  the 
gospel  authorizes  one  man  to  hold  another  in  bondage,  any  more 
than  the  command  to  honour  the  king,  when  that  king  was  Nei 
authorized  the  tyranny  of  the  emperor;  or  the  command 
the  other  cheek  when  one  was  smitten,  justifies  the  mfli 
violence  by  an  injurious  man." 

Added  to  the  foregoing,  we  find  the  following  note : 
"I  have  retained  the  above  paragraph,  though  I  confess  that 
the  remarks  of  Professor  Taylor,  of  the  Union  Theological  Semi 
nary  of  Virginia,  have  led  me  seriously  to  doubt  whether  the  < 
tinction,  to  which  it  alludes,  is  sustained  by  the  New  Testament, 
Why  then  did  he  retain  it  ? 

In  his  preface  to  the  fourth  edition,  which  is  inserted  m  t 
present,  after  expressing  his  acknowledgments  for  the  criticisms 
with  which  gentlemen  have  favoured  him,  he  says- 

«  Where  I  have  been   convinced  of  error,  I  have   altered  the 
text      Where  I  have  only  doubted,  I  have  suffered  it  to  remain 
as  it  seemed  profitless  merely  to  exchange  one  doubtful  opu 

%Ye°begrto  know  what  doubtful  opinion  would  have  been  intro 
duced  by  the    deletion  of  this,   which   he   acknowledges   to   1 
doubtful     Why  did  he  not  go  to  the  Bible,  and  inquire  of  Jesus 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  49 


Christ  and  the  apostles  for  advice  in  such  a  case?  "And  imme 
diately  Jesus  stretched  forth  his  hand,  and  caught  him,  and  said 
unto  him,  0  thou  of  little  faith,  wherefore  didst  thou  doubt?" 
Matt.  xiv.  31. 

In  Matt.  xxi.  21,  we  find  that  the  doubting  mind  is  destitute  of 
Christian  power  ;  and  the  same  in  Mark  xi.  23.  Jesus,  speaking 
to  his  disciples,  says  to  them,  Luke  xii.  29,  "Neither  be  ye  of  a 
doubtful  mind."  Does  any  one  imagine  that  Luke  would  have 
left  any  thing  in  his  book  that  he  thought  doubtful  ?  But  we 
find  in  Rom.  xiv.  1,  "  Him  that  is  weak  in  the  faith  receive  ye,  but 
not  to  doubtful  disputations."  This  surely  needs  no  comment. 
The  poison  of  doubt  is  rejected  in  1  Tim.  ii.  8  ;  and  the  apostle  in 
Rom.w.  23,  says,  "And  he  that  doubteth  is  damned  if  he  eat, 
because  he  eatethnot  of  faith,  for  whatsoever  is  not  of  faith  is  sin." 
How  awful  is  the  condition  of  him  who  shall  attempt  to  preach  a 
doctrine,  and  that  an  important  one  too,  as  the  doctrine  of  the 
Bible,  of  which  he  doubts !  A  doctrine  in  which  he  can  have  no 
faith !  Who  shall  say  it  would  not  be  a  palpable  attempt  to 
change  the  meaning  and  alter  the  sense  of  the  Scripture  from  its 
true  interpretation  ? 

"Ye  shall  not  add  unto  the  word  which  I  command  you,  neither 
shall  ye  diminish  aught  from  it,  that  ye  may  keep  the  command 
ments  of  the  Lord  your  God,  which  I  command  you."  Deut.  iv.  2. 

"  But  there  be  some  that  trouble  you,  and  pervert  the  gospel  of 
Christ.  But  though  we,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  preach  any 
other  gospel  unto  you  than  that  which  we  have  preached  unto  you, 
let  him  be  accursed.  As  we  said  before,  so  say  we  now  again,  if 
any  man  preach  any  other  gospel  unto  you  than  that  ye  have 
received,  let  him  be  accursed."  Cf-aLl.  7-9. 

"  I  Jesus  have  sent  mine  angel  to  testify  unto  you  these  things 
in  the  churches.  *  *  *  For  I  testify  unto  every  man  that 
heareth  the  words  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book,  if  any  man  shall 
add  unto  those  things,  God  shall  add  unto  him»the  plagues  that 
are  written  in  this  book ;  and  if  any  man  shall  take  away  from  the 
words  of  the  book  of  this  prophecy,  God  shall  take  away  his  part 
out  of  the  book  of  life."  Rev.  xxii.  16-19. 

"  Every  word  of  God  is  pure.  *  *  *  Add  not  unto  his  words, 
lest  he  reprove  thee,  and  thou  be  found  a  liar."  Prov.  xxx.  5-6. 

We  have  not  seen  the  remarks  of  Professor  Taylor  ;  but  we  can 
easily  imagine  that  a  professor  of  theology,  free  from  the  delirium 
of  abolitionism,  would  not  have  found  it  a  difficult  labour. to  prove 


50  STUDIESON    SLAVERY. 

that  the  main  point  of  the  author's  argument  was  contradicted  l>y 
Scripture,  and  that  even  he  himself  attempted  to  sustain  it  only 
by  assumption.  We  regret  that  President  Wayland  has  not  given 
us  Professor  Taylor's  remarks  that  made  him  "doubt."  We,  how 
ever,  will  venture  our  "remark"  that  the  author's  assertion,  "the 
inculcation  of  the  duty  of  slaves  affords  no  evidence  that  the 
Scriptures  countenance  slavery,  more  than  the  command  to  honour 
the  king  authorized  the  tyranny  of  Nero,"  is  a  comparison  where 
there  is  no  parallel.  Dr.  Wayland  must  first  make  ii\  appear  that 


all  kings,  or  chief  magistrates,  are,  necessarily,  wioj^ed  tyrants, 
like  Nero  ;  and  that  the  wicked  tyranny  is  a  part*  and  parcel  of 
the  thing  to  be  honoured,  before  his  parallel  between  slavery  and 
monarchy  can  be  drawn  ;  and  since,  then,  the  deduction  will  be 
useless,  we  suppose  he  will  not  make  the  attempt. 

The  parallel  that  might  have  been  sustained  is  this  :  The  incul 
cation  of  the  duty  of  slaves  to  obey  their  masters  does  not  authorize 
masters  to  abuse  their  power  over  their  slaves,  any  more  than  the 
command  to  honour  the  king  authorized  the  tyranny  of  Nero  ;  — 
from  which  the  deductions  are,  that  masters  have  a  right  to  com 
mand  their  slaves  as  things  in  their  peculiar  relation,  and  not  a& 
things  having  a  different  relation.  The  master  has  no  right  to- 
command  a  slave,  as  if  the  slave  stood  in  the  relation  of  a  horse  ; 
nor  even  a  horse,  as  if  the  horse  stood  in  the  relation  of  a  piece 
of  timber  :  so  the  king  has  no  right  to  govern  his  subjects  as  if 
they  were  idiots  or  brutes,  but  as  enlightened  free-men,  if  such 
be  their  condition. 

The  object  of  the  government  is  the  happiness  no  more  of  the 
governor  than  of  the  governed.  This  principle,  so  profusely  illus 
trated  in  Scripture,  it  would  seem  the  abolitionists  run  to  shipwreck, 
in  every  approach  they  make  towards  it. 

There  are  a  class  of  abolition  writers  who  never  fail  to  compare 
St.  Paul's  instruction,  to  live  in  obedience  to  the  civil  authority, 
(making  no  exception  even  when  the  worst  of  monarchs  are  -in 
power,)  with  his  instruction  to  slaves  to  obey  their  masters  ;  and 
then  say  that  no  argument  is  to  be  drawn  from  the  latter  in  favour 
of  slavery,  any  more  than  there  is  from  the  former  in  favour  of 
the  wickedness  of  the  Emperor  Nero.  To  some,  this  position  may 
look  quite  imposing  ;  while  others  will  associate  it  with  the  false 
position  of  a  wicked,  unprincipled  lawyer,  who  is  ambitious  only 
to  gain  his  case,  and  cares  not  by  what  falsehood,  or  by  what  means. 
But  it  is  truly  mortifying  to  see  such  an  argument  presented,  and 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  5^ 

attempted  to  be  sustained,  by  any  one  who  pretends  to  be  an  honest 
man,  and  a  disciple  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  we  cannot  but 
reflect  that  such  an  one  must  be  in  one  of  three  predicaments ; 
either  in  that  of  the  lawyer,  or  his  understanding  must  be  so 
obtuse  he  cannot  reason,  or  so  crazed  by  fanaticism  as  to  be  equally 
stultified  in  intellect.  Yet  these  men  present  this  argument,  or 
position,  with  an  air  which  displays  the  utmost  confidence  of  their 
having  obtained  a  victory,  and  of  their  having  established  for  them 
selves  a  lofty  intellectual  character. 

Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  everywhere  reprimanded  and  con 
demned  crime,  outrage,  and  oppression,  whether  to  superiors,  equals, 
or  inferiors.  Yet  these  qualities  of  action  must  take  their  charac 
ter  from  the  facts  of  the  case.  The  parent  will  feel  it  his  duty  to 
compel,  by  force,  his  froward  child  to  do  right ;  yet  the  same  action 
directed  to  his  neighbour,  or  equal,  may  be  manifestly  wrong,  or 
even  sinful.  The  crimes  of  monarchs  and  the  crimes  of  masters 
are  everywhere  condemned,  as  well  as  the  crimes  of  all  other  men. 
Yet  to  be  a  monarch  or  a  master  is  nowhere  condemned,  per  se,  as 
a  sinful  condition  of  itself. 

All  history  agrees  that  Nero  was  a  wicked,  ba'd  prince ;  he  was 
wicked  and  bad  because  his  acts  were  wicked  and  bad ;  not  because 
he  was  a  prince  or  an  emperor.  Slaves  are  ordered  to  be  obedient 
to  their  masters.  Is  there  any  one  so  crazy  as  therefore  to  sup 
pose  that  the  master  has  a  right  to  overwork,  starve,  murder,  or 
otherwise  misuse  his  slave  ?  We  are  all  commanded  to  be  obedient 
to  the  civil  power.  Does  this  give  the  chief  ruler  the  right  to 
practise  the  wickedness  of  Nero  ? 

Is  there  any  proof  that  Philemon  murdered,  or  was  recklessly 
cruel  to  his  slaves  ?  What  justice  is  there  in  comparing  his  charac 
ter  as  only  on  an  equality  with  that  of  Nero  ?  Was  Nero,  with 
all  his  sins,  admitted  into  the  church  of  Christ?  Where  is  the 
parallel  between  him  and  the  "beloved"  of  the  apostle? 

We  feel  authorized  to  affirm  that  St.  Paul  would  have  rejected 
from  the  church  a  slaveholder,  who  murdered,  starved,  or  otherwise 
maltreated  his  slaves,  because  these  crimes  would  have  been  proof 
of  his  want  of  the  Christian  character.  The  same  evidence  of 
wicked  conduct  would  have  excluded  any  other  man,  even  the  em 
peror,  from  the  church ;  yet,  since  slaveholders,  who  had  not  been 
guilty  of  such  enormities,  were  admitted  to  the  church,  and  distin 
guished  as  "beloved,"  this  fact  becomes  proof  that  slaveholding  is 
no  evidence  of  a  sinful  character.  So  monarchs  and  emperors, 


52  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

who  gave  proof  of  the  possession  of  the  Christian  character,  were 
always  admissible  to  the  Christian  church.  This  fact  also  becomes 
demonstration,  that  being  a  monarch  or  an  emperor  gave  no  proofs 
of  a  sinful  character. 

Will  Dr.  Wayland  undertake  to  prove  that  the  admission  of  Con- 
stantine  to  the  Christian  church  gave  any  license  to  the  wicked 
murders  and  hateful  hypocrisy  of  the  Emperor  Phocas?  Or  will 
he  venture  to  extend  his  argument,  and  say  that  the  command  of 
marital  and  filial  obedience  proves  nothing  in  their  favour  ;  since  we 
are  commanded  to  yield  a  like  obedience  to  the  king,  although  that 
king  be  the  wicked  Phocas  ?  The  fact  is,  the  mere  character  of  chief- 
magistrate,  of  husband,  of  parent  or  slaveholder,  is  quite  distinct 
from  the  character  which  their  acts  may  severally  heap  upon  them. 
It  is,  therefore,  quite  possible  for  us  to  reverence  and  obey  the 
king,  yet  hold  in  contempt  the  person  who  fills  the  throne. 

Civil  government,  the  relations  of  parent  and  child,  husband 
and  wife,  and  slavery  itself,  are  all  ordinances  of  Divine  wisdom, 
instituted  for  the  benefit  of  man,  under  the  condition  of  his  fallen 
state.  But  because  these  relations  are  in  accordance  with  the  or 
dinances  of  God,  it  by  no  means  follows  that  the  abuses  of  them 
are  so. 

Suppose  those  who  wish  to  abolish  the  institution  of  marriage 
should  present  the  same  argument  in  their  behalf  which  Dr.  Way- 
land  has  in  this  case,  it  will  surely  be  just  as  legitimate  in  the  one 
as  the  other.  But  will  not  Dr.  Wayland  readily  say  that  there  is 
no  parallel  between  the  particular  relations  compared?  We  doubt 
not,  he  would  consider  it  too  stupid  to  even  require  refutation. 


LESSON  X. 

OUR  author  says,  as  before  quoted — 

P.  209.  "  That  the  precepts  of  the  Bible  are  diametrically  op 
posed  to  slavery." 

In  proof,  he  offers  one  precept : 

"  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself,  and  All  things  what 
soever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  unto 
them." 

Upon  which  he  says,  for  argument — 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  53 

"1.  The  application  of  these  precepts  is  universal.  Our  neigh 
bour  is  every  one  whom  we  may  benefit.  The  obligation  respects 
all  things  whatsoever.  The  precept,  then,  manifestly  extends  to 
men  as  men,  or  men  in  every  condition ;  and  if  to  all  things/what 
soever,  certainly  to  a  thing  so  important  as  the  right  of  "personal 
liberty. 

"  2.  Again,  by  this  precept  it  is  made  our  duty  to  cherish  a  tender 
and  delicate  respect  for  the  right  the  meanest  individual  possesses 
over  the  means  of  happiness  bestowed  on  him  by  God,  as  we 
cherish  for  our  own  right  over  our  own  means  of  happiness,  or  as 
we  desire  any  other  individual  to  cherish  for  it.  Now,  were  this 
precept  obeyed,  it  is  manifest  that  slavery  could  not  in  fact  exist 
for  a  single-  instant.  The  principle  of  the  precept  is  absolutely 
subversive  of  the  principle  of  slavery.  That  of  the  one  is  the 
entire  equality  of  right ;  that  of  the  other,  the  entire  absorption 
of  the  rights  of  one  in  the  rights  of  the  other." 

We  propose  to  make  no  comment  upon  these  arguments.  We 
cannot  do  battle  against  phantoms.  But  we  shall  take  this  golden 
rule,  which  we  most  devoutly  reverence,  and  show  that  it  incul 
cates  slavery,  upon  a  statement  of  facts. 

The  28th  chapter  of  Deuteronomy  contains  the  revelations  of 
blessings  and  curses  promised  the  Jews,  and,  we  may  add,  all 
mankind,  for  obedience  to  the  laws  of  God,  and  for  disobedience 
to  the  same.  At  the  68th  verse,  they  were  told  that  they  should 
again  be  sent  to  Egypt ;  or  that  they  should  be  exposed  for  sale  ; 
or  that  they  should  expose  themselves  for  sale,  as  the  passage  may 
be  read,  and  that  no  man  should  buy  them ;  or  that  there  should 
not  be  buyers  enough  to  give  them  the  benefit  even  of  being  slaves, 
whereby  they  could  be  assured  of  protection  and  sustenance. 
This  was  most  signally  verified  at  the  time  Jerusalem  was  sacked 
by  Titus  ;  and  not  only  in  Egypt,  but  in  many  other  places,  thou 
sands  of  the  Hebrew  captives  were  exposed  for  sale  as  slaves. 
But  thousands  of  them,  thus  exposed,  died  of  starvation,  because 
purchasers  could  not  be  found  for  them.  The  Romans,  considered 
them  too  stubborn,  too  degraded,  to  be  worthy  of  being  slaves  to 
them,  refused  to  buy  tnem.  Their  numbers,  compared  to  the 
numbers  of  their  purchasers,  were  so  great  that  the  price  became 
merely  nominal ;  and  thousands  were  suffered  to  die,  because  pur 
chasers  could  not  be  had  at  any  price.  Their  death  was  the  con 
sequence. 

Now  let  us  apply  the  truly  golden  rule  or  precept,  relied  upon 


54  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


by  Dr  Wayland  in  support  of  abolitionism.  Would  it  teach  to 
buy  these  slaves,  or  not  ? 

The  same  incident  happened  once  again  to  all  the  Jews,  who 
were  freemen  in  Spain,  during  the  reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isa 
bella,  when  800,000  Jews  were  driven  from  that  kingdom  in  one 
day ;  vast  multitudes  of  whom  famished  to  death  because,  although 
anxious  to  do  so,  they  could  not  find  for  themselves  even  a  master ! 
Let  us  ask,  what  would  the  precept  teach  in  this  case  ? 

Nor  has  such  a  peculiar  relation  of  facts  been  confined  to  the 
Jews  alone.  In  1376,  the  Florentines,  then  a  travelling,  trading, 
or  commercial  people,  but  in  many  instances  quite  forgetful  of  the 
rules  of  Christian  honesty,  became  exceedingly  obnoxious  to  their 
neighbours,  especially  to  the  subjects  of  the  church  of  Rome.  To 
many  of  them,  murder  and  robbery  became  a  mere  pastime.  From 
individuals  the  moral  poison  was  communicated  to  their  govern 
ment.  The  church  was  despoiled  of  her  patrimony,  her  subjects 
of  their  homes.  The  church  remonstrated  until  patience  was  ex 
hausted,  when  Gregory  XL  issued  his  papal  bull,  delivering 
each  individual  of  that  nation,  in  all  parts  of  the  earth,  who  did 
not  instantly  make  reparation,  up  to  pillage,  slavery,  or  death. 

Let  us  notice  how  Walsingham  witnessed  this  matter  in  Eng 
land,  where  a  large  portion  of  the  traders  were  of  that  people, 
all  liable,  if  freemen,  to  be  put  to  death  by  any  one  who  might 
choose  to  inflict  the  punishment ;  and  their  effects  were  legally 
escheated  to  whomsoever  might  seize  them.  Slavery  was  their 
only  remedy.  The  Anglo-Saxon  Normans,  the  natives  of  the 
realm,  had  not  yet,  as  a  people,  sufficiently  emerged  from  the 
poverty  and  darkness  of  the  times  to  give  them  protection.  This, 
to  us  so  strange  a  relation  between  the  church  and  civil  govern 
ment,  in  regard  to  the  Florentines,  produced  an  action  on  the  part 
of  the  king  by  which  he  became  their  personal  master.  Thus 
they  became  slaves,  not  of  the  crown,  but  of  the  individual  who 
sat  upon  the  throne.  Did  he  act  in  conformity  to  this  precept  or 
not? 

John  and  Richard  Lander  were  sent  by  the  "  London  African 
Association"  to  explore  some  parts  of  Africa.  On  the  24th  of 
March,  1830,  they  were  only  one  half  day's  travel  from  the  sea- 
coast,  at  which  point  they  say,  vol.  i.  p.  58  : 

"  Meantime  the  rainy  season  is  fast  approaching,  as  is  suffi 
ciently  announced  by  repeated  showers  and  occasional  tornadoes  ; 
and,  what  makes  us  still  more  desirous  to  leave  this  abominable 


STUDIEft    v.  IN    SLAVERY.  55 

place,  is  the  fact,  as  we  have  been  told,  that  a  sacrifice  of  no  less 
than  three  hundred  human  beings,  of  both  sexes  and  all  ages,  is 
about  to  take  place.  We  often  hear  the  cries  of  these  poor  crea 
tures  ;  and  the  heart  sickens  with  horror  at  the  bare  contemplation 
of  such  a  scene  as  awaits  us,  should  we  remain  here  much  longer." 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  since  the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade 
in  Africa,  slaves  have  become  of  little  value  in  that  country. 
That  the  Africans  in  many  places  have  returned  to  sacrifice  and 
cannibalism,  is  also  true,  and  a  cause  of  deep  sorrow  to  the  philan 
thropist  ;  but,  considering  the  state  and  condition  of  these  savages, 
there  is  no  alternative ; — the  slave  there,  if  he  cannot  be  sold,  is 
at  all  times  liable  to  be  put  to  death. 

Suppose  you  buy,  and  then  turn  them  loose  there ;  they  will 
again  and  instantly  be  the  subjects  of  slavery ;  and  even  there, 
slavery  is  some  protection,  for,  so  long  as  the  savage  master 
chooses  or  is  able  to  keep  his  slave  alive,  he  is  more  sure  of  the 
usual  means  of  living.  But,  let  us  present  this  state  of  facts  to 
the  Christian,  and  ask  him  to  apply  the  golden  rule ;  and,  in  case 
the  slave-trade  with  Africa  had  not  now  been  abolished,  what  would 
he  deem  it  his  duty  to  do  for  the  practical  and  lasting  benefit  of 
these  poor  victims,  whom  the  sympathy  of  the  world  has  thus  con 
signed  to  sacrifice  and  death  ? 

The  people  of  the  Slave  States  have  determined  not  to  counte 
nance  amalgamation  with  the  slave  race ;  they  have  determined 
not  to  set  the  slaves  free,  because  they  have  previously  resolved 
that  they  will  not,  cannot  live  under  the  government  of  the  negro. 
In  full  view  of  these  evils,  they  have  resolved  that  they  will  not 
suffer  the  presence  of  that  race  in  their  community,  on  terms  of 
political  or  social  equality.  They  have,  therefore,  further  resolved, 
in  furtherance  of  its  prevention,  to  oppose  it  while  life  shall  last. 

Now,  Dr.  Wayland  says — 

P.  215.  "  The  slaves  were  brought  here  without  their  own  con 
sent  ;  they  have  been  continued  in  their  present  state  of  degrada 
tion  without  their  own  consent,  and  they  are  not  responsible  for 
the  consequences.  If  a  man  have  done  injustice  to  his  neighbour, 
and  have  also  placed  impediments  in  the  way  of  remedying  that 
injustice,  he  is  as  much  under  obligations  to  remove  the  impedi 
ments  in  the  way  of  justice  as  he  is  to  do  justice." 

The  ancestors  of  our  slaves  were  brought  from  beyond  sea  by 
the  people  of  Old  England,  and  by  the  people  of  New  England, 
and  particularly  by  the  people  of  Rhode  Island,  among  the  de- 


56  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


scendants  of  whom  the  reverend  doctor  resides.  The  ancestors 
of  these  slaves  were  sold  to  our  ancestors  for  money,  and  guaran 
teed,  by  them,  to  be  slaves  for  life,  and  their  descendants  after 
them,  as  they  said,  both  by  the  laws  of  God  and  man.  Whether 
this  was  false,  whether  they  were  stolen  and  cruelly  torn  from 
their  homes,  the  reverend  doctor  has  better  means  of  determining 
than  we.  We  may  sell,  we  will  not  free  them. 

Under  this  statement  of  facts,  let  the  reverend  doctor  apply  the 
golden  rule  and  his  own  argument  to  himself.  Let  him  then  buy, 
and  set  them  free  in  Rhode  Island ;  or  send  them  to  Africa,  if 
their  ancestors  "were  unlawfully  torn  from  thence." 

"  Wo  unto  you,  scribes  and  pharisees,  hypocrites !  because  ye 
build  the  tombs  of  the  prophets,  and  garnish  the  sepulchres  of  the 
righteous,  and  say,  If  we  had  been  in  the  days  of  our  fathers,  we 
should  not  have  been  partakers  with  them  in  the  blood  of  the 
prophets.  Wherefore,  ye  be  witness  unto  yourselves,  that  ye  are 
the  children  of  them  that  killed  the  prophets."  Matt,  xxiii.  29, 
30,  31. 

"  For  they  bind  heavy  burdens,  and  grievous  to  be  borne,  and 
lay  them  on  men's  shoulders ;  but  they  themselves  will  not  move 
them  with  one  of  their  fingers."  Idem.  4. 

Within  the  last  year,  our  sympathies  have  been  excited  by  an 
account  now  published  to  the  world,  of  an  African  chieftain  and 
slaveholder,  who,  during  the  year  previous,  finding  himself  cut  off 
from  a  market  on  the  Western  coast,  in  consequence  of  the  abo 
lition  of  the  slave-trade  with  Europe  and  America, — the  trade  with 
Arabia,  Egypt,  and  the  Barbary  States  not  being  sufficient  to  drain 
off  the  surplus  number, — put  to  death  three  thousand ! 

The  blood  of  these  massacred  negroes  now  cries  from  the  ground 
unto  Dr.  Wayland  and  his  disciples — 

"  Apply,  oh,  apply  to  bleeding  Africa  the  doctrine  of  the  golden 
rule,  and  relieve  us,  poor  African  slaves,  from  starvation,  mas 
sacre,  and  death.  Come,  oh,  come  ;  buy  us,  that  we  may  be  your 
slaves,  and  have  some  chance  to  learn  that  religion  under  which 
you  prosper.  Then  '  we  shall  build  up  the  old  wastes' — '  raise  up 
the  former  desolations,'  and  '  repair  the  waste  cities,  the  desolations 
of  many  generations.'  l  And  strangers  shall  stand  and  feed  your 
flocks,  and  the  sons  of  the  alien  shall  be  your  ploughmen,  and  your 
vine-dressers.'  '  Then  ye  shall  be  named  the  priests  of  the  Lord ; 
men  shall  call  you  the  ministers  of  our  God.' "  Isa.  Ixi.  4,  5,  6. 

We  shall  here  close  our  remarks  on  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wayland's 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  57. 


book  ;  and  however  feeble  they  may  be,  yet  we  can  conscientiously 
say,  we  have  no  "  doubt"  about  the  truth  of  our  doctrine. 

"  Forever,  0  Lord,  thy  word  is  settled  in  heaven.  Thy  faith 
fulness  is  unto  all  generations ;  thou  hast  established  the  earth, 
and  it  abideth.  They  continue,  this  day,  according  to  thine  ordi 
nances ;  for  all  are  thy  servants,"  (HH.^.  ebedeka,  slaves.)  Ps. 
exix.  89,  90,  91. 


LESSON  XL 

AMONG  those  who  have  advocated  views  adverse  to  those  of  our 
present  study,  we  are  compelled  to  notice  Dr.  Paley,  as  one  of  the 
most  influential,  the  most  dignified,  and  the  most  learned.  He 
defines  slavery  to  be  "an  obligation  to  labour  for  the  benefit  of 
the  master,  without  the  contract  or  consent  of  the  servant."  He 
says  "  that  this  obligation  may  arise,  consistently  with  the  laws  of 
nature,  from  three  causes  :  1st,  from  crimes ;  2d,  from  captivity ; 
and  3d,  from  debt."  He  says  that,  "in  the  first  case,  the  continuance 
of  the  slavery,  as  of  any  other  punishment,  ought  to  be  propor 
tionate  to  the  crime.  In  the  second  and  third  cases,  it  ought  to 
cease  as  soon  as  the  demand  of  the  injured  nation  or  private 
creditor  is  satisfied."  He  was  among  the  first  to  oppose  the  Afri 
can  slave-trade.  He  says,  "  Because,  when  the  slaves  were  brought 
to  the  African  slave-market,  no  questions  were  asked  as  to  the 
origin  of  the  vendors'  titles :  Because  the  natives  were  incited  to 
war  for  the  sake  of  supplying  the  market  with  slaves :  Because  the 
slaves  were  torn  away  from  their  parents,  wives,  children,  and  friends, 
homes,  companions,  country,  fields,  and  flocks,  and  their  accom 
modation  on  shipboard  not  better  than  that  provided  for  brutes  : 
Because  the  system  of  laws  by  which  they  are  governed  is  merci 
less  and  cruel,  and  is  exercised,  especially  by  their  English  mas 
ters,  with  rigour  and  brutality." 

But  he  thinks  the  American  Revolution,  which  had  just  then 
happened,  will  have  a  tendency  to  accelerate  the  fall  of  this  most 
abominable  tyranny,  and  indulges  in  the  reflection  whether,  in  the 
providence  of  God,  the  British  legislature,  which  had  so  long  as- 
bisted  and  supported  it,  was  fit  to  have  rule  over  so  extensive  an 
empire  as  the  North  American  colonies. 


58  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

Dr.  Paley  says  that  slavery  was  a  part  of  the  civil  constitution 
of  most  countries  when  Christianity  appeared  ;  and  that  no  passage 
is  found  in  the  Christian  Scriptures  by  which  it  is  condemned  or 
prohibited.  But  he  thinks  the  reason  to  be,  because  "  Christianity, 
soliciting  admission  into  all  nations  of  the  world,  abstained,  as 
behooved  it,  from  intermeddling  with  the  civil  institutions  of  any ; 
but,"  says  he,  "  does  it  follow  from  the  silence  of  Scripture  concern 
ing  them,  that  all  the  civil  institutions  that  then  prevailed  were 
right  ?  or,  that  the  bad  should  not  be  exchanged  for  better  ? 
Besides,"  he  says,  "the  discharging  the  slaves  from  all  obligations  to 
their  masters  would  have  had  no  better  effect  than  to  let  loose  one 
half  of  mankind  upon  the  other.  Besides,"  he  thinks  "  it  would  have 
produced  a  servile  war,  which  would  have  ended  in  the  reproach 
and  extinction  of  the  Christian  name." 

Dr.  Paley  thinks  that  the  emancipation  of  slaves  should  be 
carried  on  very  gradually,  by  provision  of  law,  under  the  pro 
tection  of  government ;  and  that  Christianity  should  operate  as  an 
alterative,  in  which  way,  he  thinks,  it  has  extinguished  the  Greek 
and  Roman  slavery,  and  also  the  feudal  tyranny ;  and  he  trusts, 
"as  Christianity  advances  in  the  world,  it  will  banish  what  remains 
of  this  odious  institution." 

In  some  of  his  other  writings,  Dr.  Paley  suggests  that  Great 
Britain,  by  way  of  atoning  for  the  wrongs  she  has  done  Africa, 
ought  to  transport  from  America  free  negroes,  the  descendants  of 
slaves,  and  give  them  location  in  various  parts  of  Africa,  to  serve 
as  models  for  the  civilization  of  that  country. 

Dr.  Paley's  Treatise  on  Moral  and  Political  Philosophy,  from 
which  the  foregoing  synopsis  is  taken,  was  published  to  the  world 
in  1T85;  but  it  had  been  delivered  in  lectures,  almost  verbatim, 
before  the  University  of  Cambridge,  several  years  previous ;  and 
it  is  now  a  class-book  in  almost  every  high  literary  institution 
where  the  English  language  is  spoken.  It  is,  therefore,  a  work 
of  high  authority  and  great  influence. 

But  we  think  his  definition  of  the  term  slavery  is  not  correct. 
Let  us  repeat  it:  "An  obligation  to  labour  for  the  benefit  of  the 
master,  without  the  contract  or  consent  of  the  servant." 

Many,  who  purchase  slaves  to  be  retained  in  their  own  families, 
first  examine  and  consult  with  the  slave,  and  tell  him — "  My  busi 
ness  is  thus  ;  I  feed  and  clothe  thus  ;  are  you  willing  that  I  should 
buy  you  ?  For  I  will  buy  no  slave  who  is  not  willing." 

To  this,  it  is  usual  for  the  slave  to  say,  "Yes,  master!  and  I 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  59 


hope  you  will  buy  me.  I  will  be  a  good  slave.  You  shall  have  no 
fault  to  find  with  me,  or  my  work." 

By  all  the  claims  of  morality,  here  is  a  contract  and  consent,  and 
the  statute  might  make  it  legal.  But  who  will  say  that  the  con 
dition  of  slavery  is  altered  thereby  ?  But,  says  one,  this  suppo 
sition  does  not  reach  the  case,  because  all  the  obligations  and  con 
ditions  of  slavery  previously  existed;  and,  therefore,  the  "con 
tract"  and  "consent"  here  only  amounted  to  a  contract  and 
consent  to  change  masters. 

Suppose  then,  from  poverty  or  misfortune,  or  some  peculiar 
affection  of  the  mind,  a  freeman  should  solicit  to  place  himself  in 
the  condition  of  slavery  to  one  in  whom  he  had  sufficient  confi 
dence,  (and  we  have  known  such  a  case,) — a  freeman  anxiously 
applying  to  his  more  fortunate  friend  to  enter  into  such  an  engage 
ment  for  life  ;  suppose  the  law  had  sanctioned  such  voluntary 
slavery,  and,  when  entered  into,  made  it  obligatory,  binding,  and 
final  for  ever.  There  would  be  nothing  in  such  law  contrary  to  the 
general  powers  of  legislation,  however  impolitic  it  might  be ;  and 
such  a  law  did  once  exist  among  the  Jews. 

"  And  if  a  sojourner  or  a  stranger  wax  rich  by  thee,  and  thy 
brother  that  dwelleth  by  him  wax  poor,  and  sell  himself  unto  the 
stranger  or  sojourner  by  thee,  or  to  the  stock  of  the  stranger's 
family ;  after  that  he  is  sold,  he  may  be  redeemed  again  ;  and  one 
of  his  brethren  may  redeem  him.  Either  his  uncle  or  his  uncle's 
son  may  redeem  him,  or  any  that  is  nigh  of  kin  unto  his  family 
may  redeem  him ;  or,  if  he  be  able,  he  may  redeem  himself:  *  *  * 
and  if  he  be  not  redeemed  in  one  of  these  years, — then  he  shall  go 
out  in  the  year  of  Jubilee,  both  he  and  his  children  with  him." 
Lev.  xxv.  47-54.  "Now  these  are  the  judgments  which  ye  shall  set 
before  them.  If  ye  buy  an  Hebrew  servant,  six  years  shall  he 
serve,  and  in  the  seventh  he  shall  go  out  free  for  nothing.  If  he 
came  in  by  himself,  he  shall  go  out  by  himself ;  if  he  were  married, 
then  his  wife  shall  go  out  with  him.  If  his  master  have  given  him 
a  wife,  and  she  have  borne  him  sons  or  daughters,  the  wife  and  her 
children  shall  be  her  master's,  and  he  shall  go  out  by  himself;  and 
if  the  servant  shall  plainly  say,  '  I  love  my  ma&ter,  my  wife,  and 
my  children;  I  will  not  go  out  free,' — then  his  master  shall  bring 
him  unto  the  judges ;  he  shall  bring  him  unto  the  door,  or  unto 
the  door-post,  and  his  master  shall  bore  his  ear  through  with  an 
awl,  and  he  shall  serve  him  forever."  Ex.  xxi.  1-6. 

It  is  clear,  then, that  "to  contract  and  consent,"  or  the  reverse, 


60  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

is  no  part  of  the  qualities  of  slavery.  Erase,  then,  that  portion  of 
Dr.  Paley's  definition  as  surplusage ;  it  will  then  read,  "  an  obli 
gation  to  labour  for  the  benefit  of  the  master." 

Now,  there  can  be  no  obligation  to  do  a  thing  where  there  is  no 
possible  power  to  do  it ;  and  more  especially,  if  there  is  no  con 
tract.  But  it  does  not  unfrequently  occur,  that  a  slave,  from  its 
infancy,  old  age,  idiocy,  delirium,  disease,  or  other  infirmity,  has 
no  power  to  labour  for  the  benefit  of  the  master  ;  and  the  want  of 
such  ability  may  be  obviously  as  permanent  as  life,  so  as  to  exclude 
the  idea  of  any  prospective  benefit.  Yet  the  law  compels  the 
master  to  supply  food,  clothes,  medicine,  pay  taxes  on,  and  every 
way  suitably  protect  such  slave,  greatly  to  the  disadvantage  of  the 
master.  Or,  a  case  might  be,  for  it  is  presumable,  that  the  master, 
from  some  obliqueness  of  understanding,  might  not  wish  some 
slave,  even  in  good  health,  to  labour  at  all,  but  would  prefer, 
at  great  expense,  to  maintain  such  slave  in  luxury  and  idleness, 
clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen,  and  faring  sumptuously  every 
day :  surely,  such  slave,  would  be  under  no  obligation  to  labour 
for  the  benefit  of  the  master,  when,  to  do  so,  would  be  acting  con 
trary  to  his  will  and  command.  Yet  none  of  these  circumstances 
make  the  slave  a  freeman,  or  alter  at  all  the  essentials  of  slavery. 

The  slave,  then,  may  or  may  not  be  under  obligation  to  labour 
for  the  benefit  of  the  master.  Therefore,  the  "  obligation  to  la 
bour  for  the  benefit  of  the  master"  is  surplusage  also,  and  may  be 
erased.  So  the  entire  definition  is  erased — not  a  word  left ! 

The  fact  is,  Dr.  Paley  took  some  of  the  most  common  incidents 
accompanying  the  thing  for  the  thing  itself;  and  he  would  have 
been  just  as  logically  correct  had  he  said,  that  "  slavery  was  to  be 
a  hearty  feeder  on  fat  pork,"  because  slaves  feed  heartily  on  that 
article.  In  his  definition  Dr.  Paley  has  embraced  none  of  the 
essentials  of  slavery. 

We  propose  to  notice  the  passage — "  This  obligation  may  arise, 
consistently  with  the  laws  of  nature,  from  three  causes :  1st,  from 
crime;  2d,  from  captivity;  3d,  from  debt." 

The  first  consideration  is,  what  he  means  by  "obligation."  In 
its  usual  acceptation,  the  term  means  something  that  has  grown  out 
of  a  previous  condition,  as  the  obligations  of  marriage  did  not, 
nor  could  they  exist  until  the  marriage  was  had.  If  he  only 
means  that  the  "  obligations"  of  slavery  arise,  &c.,  then  he  has 
told  us  nothing  of  the  arising  of  slavery  itself.  But  as  he  has 
used  the  word  in  the  singular  number,  and  given  it  three  progeni- 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  61 

tors,  we  may  suppose,  that,  by  some  figure  of  rhetoric,  not  usual 
in  works  of  this  kind,  ho  has  used  the  consequent  for  the  cause. 
In  that  case,  the  sentence  should  read,  "  Slavery  may  arise,  con 
sistently  with  the  laws  of  nature,  from  three  causes,"  &c. ;  which 
is  what  we  suppose  the  doctor  really  meant. 

The  next  inquiry  is,  what  did  Dr.  Paley  mean  by  "  the  laws  of 
nature  ?"  Permit  us  to  suffer  him  to  answer  this  inquiry  himself. 

In  the  twenty-fourth  chapter  of  his  "Natural  Theology,"  a 
work  of  great  merit,  he  says — 

"  The  wisdom  of  the  Deity,  as  testified  in  the  works  of  creation, 
surpasses  all  idea  we  have  of  wisdom  drawn  from  the  highest  in 
tellectual  operations  of  the  highest  class  of  intelligent  beings  with 
whom  we  are  acquainted.  *  *  *  The  degree  of  knowledge 
and  power  requisite  for  the  formation  of  created  nature  cannot, 
with  respect  to  us,  be  distinguished  from  infinite.  The  Divine  om 
nipresence  stands  in  natural  theology  upon  this  foundation.  In 
every  part  and  place  of  the  universe,  with  which  we  are  acquainted, 
we  perceive  the  exertion  of  a  power  which  we  believe  mediately 
or  immediately  to  proceed  from  the  Deity.  For  instance,  in  what 
part  or  point  of  space,  that  has  ever  been  explored,  do  we  not 
discover  attraction  ?  In  what  regions  do  we  not  discover  light  ? 
In  what  accessible  portion  of  our  globe  do  we  not  meet  with  gravi 
tation,  magnetism,  electricity  ?  together  with  the  properties,  also, 
and  powers  of  organized  substances,  of  vegetable  or  animated,  na 
ture  ?  Nay,  further  we  may  ask,  what  kingdom  is  there  of  nature, 
what  corner  of  space,  in  which  there  is  any  thing  that  can  be  ex 
amined  by  us,  where  we  do  not  fall  upon  contrivance  and  design  ? 
The  only  reflection,  perhaps,  which  arises  in  our  minds  from  this 
view  of  the  world  around  us,  is  that  the  laws  of  nature  every 
where  prevail ;  that  they  are  uniform  and  universal.  But  what 
do  we  mean  by  the  laws  of  nature  ?  or  by  any  law  ?  Effects  are 
produced  by  power,  not  by  law;  a  law  cannot  execute  itself;  a  law 
refers  to  an  agent." 

By  the  "laws  of  nature,"  then,  Dr.  Paley  clearly  means  the 
laws  of  God. 

Now  be  pleased  to  look  at  the  close  of  Dr.  Paley's  remarks  on 
slavery,  where  he  trusts  that,  "  as  Christianity  advances  in  the 
world,  it  will  banish  what  remains  of  that  odious  institution." 
How  happens  it  that  an  institution  which  arises  consistently  with 
the  laws  of  God  should  be  odious  to  him,  unless  the  laws  of  God 
and  Dr.  Paley  are  at  variance  on  this  subject  ? 


62  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 


LESSON  XII. 

IT  will  be  recollected,  that  Dr.  Paley  has  presented  a  number 
of  facts,  displaying  acts  of  oppression  and  cruelty,  as  arguments 
against  the  African  slave-trade.  These  facts  are  arranged  and 
used  in  place  as  arguments  against  the  institution  of  slavery  it 
self;  and  the  verbose  opponents  of  this  institution  have  always  so 
understood  it,  and  so  used  this  class  of  facts.  It  is  this  circum 
stance  that  calls  for  our  present  view  of  these  facts,  rather  than 
any  necessity  the  facts  themselves  impose  of  proving  their  exag 
geration  or  imaginary  existence  ;  and  doubtless,  in  many  cases, 
most  heartless  enormities  were  committed.  But  what  do  they  all 
prove  ?  Truly,  that  some  men  engaged  in  the  traffic  were  exceed 
ingly  wicked  men. 

Such  men  would  fashion  the  traffic  to  suit  themselves,  and 
would,  doubtless,  make  their  business  an  exceedingly  wicked  one. 
But  none  of  the  enormities  named,  or  that  could  be  named,  con 
stituted  a  necessary  part  of  the  institution  of  slavery,  or  necessa 
rily  emanated  from  it.  What  enormities  have  wicked  men  some 
times  committed  in  the  transportation  of  emigrants  from  Germany 
and  Ireland  ?  Wicked  men,  intrusted  with  power,  have,  at  least 
sometimes,  been  found  to  abuse  it.  Is  it  any  argument  against  the 
institution  of  marriage,  because  some  women  have  made  their 
husbands  support  and  educate  children  not  their  own  ?  Or,  be 
cause  some  men  murder,  treat  with  cruelty,  or  make  their  wives 
totally  miserable  and  wretched  ?  None  of  these  things  were  any 
part  of  the  institution  of  marriage,  but  the  reverse  of  it.  Apply 
this  view  also  to  the  institution  of  Christianity,  for  nothing  has 
been  more  abused.  Already,  under  its  very  banners,  as  it  were, 
have  been  committed  more  enormities  than  would  probably  attend 
that  of  slavery  through  all  time.  Yet  the  institution  of  Chris 
tianity  has  not  been  even  soiled  thereby ;  but  its  character  and 
usefulness  have  become  brighter  and  more  visible.  In  proportion 
to  the  importance  of  a  thing  is  its  liability  to  abuse.  A  worthless 
thing  is  not  worth  a  counterfeit. 

We  have  before  us  the  testimony  of  travellers  in  regard  to  the 
indifference  felt  by  the  Africans  on  being  sold  as  slaves ;  of  their 
palpable  want  of  love  and  affection  for  their  country,  their  rela- 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  53 

tives,  and  even  for  their  wives  and  children.  Nor  should  we  forget 
that  a  large  portion  of  this  race  are  born  slaves  to  the  chieftains, 
whose  wars  with  each  other  are  mere  excursions  of  robbery  and 
theft. 

Lander,  vol.  i.  p.  107,  speaking  of  Jenna,  says — 

"  It  must  not  be  imagined  that  because  the  people  of  this  country 
are  almost  perpetually  engaged  in  conflicts  with  their  neighbours, 
the  slaughter  of  human  beings  is  therefore  very  grea.t.  They  pur 
sue  war,  as  it  is  called,  partly  as  an  amusement,  or  to  keep  their 
hands  in  it ;  and  partly  to  benefit  themselves  by  the  capture  of 
slaves." 

One  decrepit  old  woman  was  the  victim  of  a  hundred  engage 
ments,  at  Cape  La  Hoo,  during  a  three  years'  war.  Lander  de 
scribes  those  who  claim  to  be  free,  as  the  war  men  of  the  path,  who 
are  robbers.  H»  says,  p.  145,  "  they  subsist  solely  by  pillage  and 
rapine." 

Such  is  the  condition  of  the  poor  free  negro  in  Africa.  The 
chieftain  often,  it  is  true,  has  goats,  sheep,  fields  of  corn  and  rice ; 
but  we  mistake  when  we  suppose  that  the  slaves,  the  surplus  of 
whom  were  formerly  sent  to  market,  were  the  proprietors  of  such 
property.  At  Katune[ua,  p.  179,  Lander  describes  the  food  to  be 
"  such  as  lizards,  rats,  locusts,  and  caterpillars,  which  the  natives 
roast,  grill,  bake,  and  boil."  No  people  feed  on  such  vermin  who 
possess  fields  and  flocks. 

We  can  form  some  notion  of  their  companionship,  from  p.  110 : 
-'It  is  the  custom  here,  when  the  governor  dies,  for  two  of  his 
favourite  wives  to  quit  the  world  on  the  same  day;"  but  in  this 
case  they  ran  and  hid  themselves.  Also,  p.  182  :  "  This  morning 
a  young  man  visited  us,  with  a  countenance  so  rueful,  and  spoke  in 
a  tone  so  low  and  melancholy,  that  we  were  desirous  to  learn  what 
evil  had  befallen  him.  The  cause  of  it  was  soon  explained  by  his 
informing  us  that  he  would  be  doomed  to  die,  with  two  companions, 
as  soon  as  the  governor's  dissolution  should  take  place." 

There  is  little  or  no  discrepancy  among  travellers  in  their  de 
scriptions  of  the  Africans.  Their  state  of  society  must  have  been 
well  known  to  Paley ;  yet  Paley  gives  us  a  picture  of  their  state 
of  society  from  imagination,  founded  upon  that  state  of  society 
with  which  his  pupils  were  conversant :  "  Because  the  slaves  were 
torn  away  from  their  parents,  wives,  children,  and  friends,  homes, 
companions,  country,  fields,  and  flocks." 

If  the  picture  drawn  by  Paley  were  the  lone  consideration  ad- 


(54  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

dressed  to  our  commiseration  in  the  argument  against  slavery  as  a 
Divine  institution  of  mercy,  we  should,  perhaps,  be  at  some  loss 
to  determine  what  amount  was  due  from  us  to  the  African  slave, 
who  had  thus  been  torn  from  the  danger  of  being  put  to  death ! 
— thus  torn  from  Ms  fields  of  lizards  and  locusts,  and  flocks  of 
caterpillars  ! 

But  what  shall  we  think  of  an  argument,  founded  on  relations  in 
England,  but  applied  to  Africa,  where  no  such  relations  exist  ? 

It  is  a  rule  to  hesitate  as  to  the  truthfulness  of  all  that  is  stated, 
when  the  witness  is  discovered  to  be  under  the  influence  of  a  pre 
judice  so  deeply  seated  as  to  mislead  the  mind,  and  especially 
when  we  discover  a  portion  of  the  stated  facts  to  be  either  not  true 
or  misapplied. 

The  reasons  assigned  by  Dr.  Paley  why  the  Christian  Scriptures 
did  not  prohibit  and  condemn  slavery,  we  deem  also  quite  erro 
neous  : — "For  Christianity,  soliciting  admission  into  all  nations  of 
the  world,  abstained,  as  behooved  it,  from  intermeddling  with  the 
civil  institutions  of  any;"  and  then  asks,  with  an  air  of  triumph, 
"  But  does  it  follow  from  the  siWce  of  Scripture  concerning  them, 
that  all  the  civil  institutions  that  prevailed  were  right  ?  or  that 
the  bad  should  not  be  exchanged  for  better?" 

We  wish  to  call  particular  attention  to  this  passage,  for,  even 
after  having  examined  the  books  of  the  Greek  philosophers,  we  are 
constrained  to  say  we  have  never  seen  a  more  beautiful  sophism. 

Is  it  a  fact,  then,  that  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  did  compro 
mise  and  compound  with  sin,  as  Dr.  Paley  thinks  it  behooved  them, 
and  with  the  design  to  avoid  opposition  to  the  introduction  of 
Christianity  ? 

Say,  thou  humble  follower  of  the  lowly  Jesus,  art  thou  ready 
to  lay  down  thy  life  for  Him  who  could  truckle  to  sin — to  a  gross, 
an  abominable  sin,  which  alone  would  destroy  the  purity  of  his 
character  and  the  divinity  of  his  doctrine?  In  all  love,  we  pray 
Him  who  holds  your  very  breath  in  his  hand,  to  cause  you  to  trem 
ble,  before  you  shall  say  that  Jesus  Christ  was  a  liar,  and  his 
apostles  perjured ! 

"  I  am  the  true  vine  ;  and  my  Father  is  the  husbandman  *  * 
as  the  Father  hath  loved  me,  so  have  I  loved  you ;  continue  ye  in 
my  love.  Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man  lay 
down  his  life  for  his  friends.  Ye  are  my  friends  if  ye  do  what 
soever  I  command  you.  Henceforth  I  call  you  not  servants,  for 
the  servant  krioweth  not  what  his  Lord  doeth ;  but  I  have  called 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  05 


you  friends ;  for  ALL  THINGS  that  I  have  heard  of  my  Father,  I 
have  made  known  unto  you."  John  xv.  1,  9,  13,  15. 

"  And  when  they  were  come  to  him,  he  said  unto  them ;  ye  know, 
from  the  first  day  that  I  came  into  Asia,  after  what  manner  I  have 
been  with  you,  at  all  seasons,  serving  the  Lord  with  all  humility 
of  mind,  and  with  many  tears  and  temptations,  which  befell  me  by 
the  lying  in  wait  of  the  Jews.  And  how  I  kept  back  nothing  that 
was  profitable  unto  you ;  but  have  showed  you,  and  have  taught 
you  publicly  and  from  house  to  house.  Wherefore,  I  take  you  to 
record  this  day,  that  I  am  pure  from  the  blood  of  all  men.  For  I 
have  not  shunned  to  declare  unto  you  ALL  THE  COUNSEL  OF  GOD." 
Acts  xx. 

Had  St.  Paul  foreseen  the  attack  upon  his  character,  made  by 
Dr.  Paley,  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-five  years  after,  and  that 
upon  his  Master  and  their  religion,  he  need  not  have  altered  his 
language  to  have  repelled  the  slander. 

"Simon  Peter,  a  servant  and  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  them 
that  have  obtained  like  precious  faith  with  us,  through  the  right 
eousness  of  God  and  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ :  grace  and  peace 
be  multiplied  unto  you,  through  the  knowledge  of  God  and  of  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord,  according  as  his  divine  power  hath  given  unto  us 

ALL   THINGS    THAT    PERTAIN    UNTO    LIFE   AND    GODLINESS,    through 

the  knowledge  of  him  that  hath  called  us  to  glory  and  virtue." 
2Pe*.i.l,  2,3. 

And  what  says  this  holy  man, — what  says  this  same  Peter,  touch 
ing  the  subject  of  Dr.  Paley's  remarks  ? 

"  Servants,  be  subject  to  your  masters  with  all  fear  ;  not  only  to 
the  good  and  gentle,  but  also  to  the  froward,  *  *  *  for  here 
unto  were  ye  called."  I  Pet.  ii.  18-21. 

Permit  us  to  inquire  whether  the  language  of  Jesus  Christ  him 
self,  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  Peter,  does  not,  in  a  strong  degree,  con 
tradict  the  supposition  of  Dr.  Paley  ?  And  let  us  inquire  whether 
it  is  probable  that  a  class  of  men,  devoted  to  the  promulgation  of 
a  doctrine  which  ran  so  counter  to  many  of  the  civil  institutions, 
customs,  habits,  and  religions  then  in  the  world,  as  to  have  subjected 
them  to  death,  would  have  secretly  kept  back  a  part  of  their  creed, 
when,  to  have  made  it  known,  could  not  have  increased  their 
danger ;  and,  especially,  as  by  the  creed  itself,  such  keeping  back 
would  have  insured  to  them  the  eternal  punishment  hereafter  ? 

"Now  we  have  received,  not  the  spirit  of  the  world,  but  the 
spirit  which  is  of  God :  that  we  might  know  the  things  that  are 


66  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

freely  given  to  us  of  God ;  which  things  we  also  speak,  not  in  t 
words  which  man's  wisdom  teacheth,  but  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
teacheth."  1  Cor. ii.  12, 13.  "And  Jesus  came  and  spake  unto 
them,  saying  ;  all  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth. 
Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  teaching 
them  to  observe  ALL  THINGS  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you ; 
and  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 
Matt,  xxviii.  18-20.  "  And  now,  0  Father,  glorify  thou  me,  with 
thine  own  self,  with  the  glory  which  I  had  with  thee  before  the 
world  was.  I  have  manifested  thy  name  unto  the  men  which  thou 
gavest  me  out  of  the  world.  Now  they  have  known  ALL  THINGS 
whatsoever  thou  hast  given  me  of  thee :  for  I  have  given  unto 
them  the  WORDS  which  thou  gavest  me,  and  they  have  received 
them,  and  have  known  surely  that  I  came  out  from  thee." 
John  xvii.  5-8. 

It  is  not  possible  that  we  could  have  had  greater  evidence  that 
the  whole  counsel  of  God,  illustrating  the  Christian  duty,  was 
delivered  to  the  apostles,  and  through  them,  to  the  world.  Besides, 
the  very  presumption  of  the  incompleteness  of  the  instruction  un 
dermines  the  divinity  of  the  doctrine. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  one  who  does  not  feel  pain,  sometimes 
almost  unspeakable,  when  we  see  a  great  man  leaning  upon  the 
staff  of  error,  especially  when  such  error  is  palpable,  gross,  and 
calamitous  in  its  tendency  and  effects. 

But,  cheering  as  the  early  ray  of  hope,  and  welcome  as  the 
rest-giving  witness  of  a  covenant,  will  be  the  proof  that  human 
weakness  still  had  power  to  wade  from  out  the  miry  labyrinth  of 
error — to  stand  upon  the  rock  from  whence  even  human  eyes 
might  behold  some  few  glimpses  of  the  rising  effulgence  of  truth. 

We  have  some  evidence  that  Dr.  Paley  did,  at  a  later  period  of 
his  life,  adopt  a  more  consistent  view  of  the  Christian  Scriptures, 
touching  the  subject  of  this  inquiry.  In  his  "  Horse  Paulinse," 
a  work  of  exceeding  great  merit,  on  the  subject  of  Paul's  letter  to 
the  Corinthian  church,  he  enumerates  and  classifies  the  subjects 
of  Paul's  instruction,  among  which  slavery  is  conspicuously  men 
tioned,  and  then  says — "That  though  they"  (the  subjects)  "  be 
exactly  agreeable  to  the  circumstances  of  the  persons  to  whom  the 
letter  was  written,  nothing,  I  believe,  but  the  existence  and  reality 
of  the  circumstances"  (subjects)  "could  have  suggested  them  to 
the  writer's  thought." 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


In  all  Christian  love  and  charity,  we  are  constrained  to  believe 
that  he  had  discovered  his  error  ;  and  that,  had  his  life  been 
spared  longer,  he,  with  diligence  and  anxiety,  would  have  expunged 
from  his  works  charges  so  reflecting  on  himself,  and  contrary  to  the 
character  of  the  God  of  our  hope. 


LESSON  XIII. 

SLAVERY  existed  in  Britain  when  history  commenced  the  records 
of  that  island.  It  was  there  found  in  a  state  and  condition  pre 
dicated  upon  the  same  causes  by  which  its  existence  is  now  con 
tinued  and  perpetuated  in  Africa.  But  as  early  as  the  year 
692-3  A.  D.,  the  Witna-Gemot,  convoked  by  Ina,  began  to  mani 
fest  a  more  elevated  condition  of  the  Britons.  Without  abolishing 
slavery,  they  regulated  its  government,  ameliorated  the  old  practice 
of  death  or  slavery  being  the  universal  award  of  conquest ;  by  sub 
mission  and  baptism  the  captive  was  acknowledged  to  merit  some 
consideration  ;  life,  and,  in  some  cases,  property  were  protected 
against  the  rapacity  of  the  conqueror ;  the  child  was  secured 
against  the  mere  avarice  of  the  savage  parent,  and  heavy  punish 
ment  was  announced  against  him  who  should  sell  his  countryman, 
whether  malefactor,  slave,  or  not,  to  any  foreign  master. 

He  who  has  the  curiosity  to  notice  the  steps  by  which  the  Britons 
emerged  from  savage  life,  in  connection  with  their  condition  of 
slavery,  may  do  well  to  examine  the  works  of  William  of  Malms- 
bury,  Simeon  of  Durham,  Bede,  Alcuin,  Wilkins,  Huntingdon, 
Hoveden,  Lingard,  and  Wilton.  But  he  will  not  find  the  statutes 
of  the  monarchies  succeeding  Ina  free  from  these  enactments  until 
he  shall  come  down  near  the  fourteenth  century.  Thus,  genera 
tions  passed  away  before  these  statutes  came  to  be  regarded  with 
general  respect.  National  regeneration  has  ever  been  thus  slow. 
Thus,  savage  life  has  ever  put  to  death  the  captive  ;  while  we  find 
that  slavery,  among  such  tribes,  has  ever  been  introduced  as  a 
merciful  provision  in  its  stead,  and  is  surely  a  proof  of  one  step 
towards  a  more  elevated  state  of  moral  improvement.  But  in  the 
case  of  Britain  and  the  whole  of  Europe,  the  slave  was  of  the  same 
original  stock  with  the  master ;  he,  therefore,  presented  no  physi 
cal  impediment  to  amalgamation,  by  which  has  been  brought  about 
whatever  of  equality  now  exists  among  their  descendants. 


68  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


But  in  the  close  of'  this  study,  we  propose  to  take  some  notice 
of  the  arguments  of  another  most  distinguished  writer  in  favour 
of  the  abolition  of  slavery,  as  it  now  affects  the  African  race. 

In  1777,  the  celebrated  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  wrote  his  argument 
in  favour  of  the  freedom  of  the  negro  slave  who  accompanied  his 
rnapccr  from  Jamaica  to  Scotland,  and  who  there  brought  suit  in 
the.  Court  of  Sessions  for  his  freedom.  This  argument  has  been 
deemed  by  so  many  to  be  unanswerable,  and  ever  since  that  time 
so  generally  used  as  a  seed  argument  in  the  propagation  of  aboli 
tion  doctrines,  that  we  feel  it  worthy  of  notice  and  examination. 

Johnson  was  a  bitter  opponent  of  negro  slavery ;  yet,  strange, 
he  ever  advocated  the  justice  of  reducing  the  American  colonies 
and  the  West  India  Islands  to  the  most  abject  condition  of  political 
slavery  to  the  British  crown.  This  system  is  fully  advocated,  and 
garnished  by  his  sarcasm  and  ridicule,  in  his  famous  work,  entitled 
"  Taxation  no  Tyranny."  "  How  is  it,"  says  he,  "that  we  hear 
the  loudest  yelps  for  liberty  among  the  drivers  of  negroes." 

Not  long  after  he  wrote  this  argument,  on  the  occasion  of  a 
dinner-party  at  Dilly's,  he  said,  "  I  am  willing  to  love  all  man 
kind,  except  an  American;"  whereupon,  adds  his  biographer,  "he 
breathed  out  threatenings  and  slaughter,  calling  them  rascals,  rob 
bers,  pirates,  and  exclaiming,  he'd  burn  and  destroy  them." 

Some  knowledge  of  a  man's  peculiar  notions  relevant  to  a  sub 
ject  will  often  aid  the  mind  in  a  proper  estimate  of  the  value  of 
his  opinion  and  judgment  concerning  correlative  matters.  His 
biographer  says — 

"  I  record  Dr.  Johnson's  argument  fairly  upon  this  particular 
case;"  *  *  *  " but  I  beg  leave  to  enter  my  most  solemn  pro 
test  against  his  general  doctrine  with  respect  to  the  slave-trade ; 
for  I  will  most  resolutely  say  that  his  unfavourable  notion  of  it 
was  owing  to  prejudice,  and  imperfect  or  false  information.  The 
wild  and  dangerous  attempt,  which  has  for  some  time  been  per 
sisted  in,  to  obtain  an  act  of  the  legislature  to  abolish  so  very  im 
portant  and  necessary  a  branch  of  commercial  interest,  must  have 
been  crushed  at  once,  had  not  the  insignificance  of  the  zealots  who 
vainly  took  the  lead  in  it,  made  the  vast  body  of  the  planters, 
merchants,  and  others,  whose  immense  properties  are  involved  in 
the  trade,  reasonably  enough  suppose  that  there  would  be  no  dan 
ger.  The  encouragement  which  the  attempt  has  received  excites 
my  wonder  and  indignation ;  and  though  some  men  of  superior 
abilities  have  supported  it,  whether  from  a  love  of  temporary  popu- 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  (59 

larity  when  prosperous,  or  a  love  of  general  mischief  when  des 
perate,  my  opinion  is  unshaken.  To  abolish  a  status,  which  in  all 
ages  God  has  sanctioned  and  man  has  continued,  would  not  only 
be  robbery  to  an  innumerable  class  of  fellow-subjects,  but  it  would 
be  extreme  cruelty  to  African  savages,  a  portion  of  whom  it  saves 
from  massacre  or  intolerable  bondage  in  their  own  country,  and 
introduces  into  a  much  happier  state  of  life."  Boswell's  Life  of 
Johnson,  vol.  ii.  pp.  132,  133. 

On  the  same  page,  the  biographer  adds — 

"  His  violent  prejudices  against  our  West-Indian  and  American 
settlers,  appeared  whenever  there  was  an  opportunity."  *  *  * 
"  Upon  an  occasion,  when  in  company  with  several  very  grave  men 
at  Oxford,  his  toast  was :  '  Here's  to  the  next  insurrection  of  the 
negroes  in  the  West  Indies  !'  I,  with  all  due  deference,  thought 
that  he  discovered  a  zeal  without  knowledge." 

This  was  surely  bold  in  Boswell ! 

Since  the  culmination  of  the  great  British  lexicographer,  it  has 
been  unusual  to  hear  a  whisper  in  question  of  his  high  moral  accu 
racy,  of  his  singularly  nice  mental  training,  or  the  perspicuous  and 
lofty  display  of  these  qualities  in  all  his  works.  Even  at  this  day, 
such  a  whisper  may  be  proof  of  temerity.  But  truth  is  of  higher 
import  than  the  fear  of  individual  rebuke,  or  of  our  literary  faith 
that  any  one  hero  in  the  walks  of  erudition  heretofore  went  down 
to  the  tomb  without  one  mental  or  classical  imperfection. 

Argument  in  favour  of  a  negro  claiming  his  liberty,  referred  to 
in  BosiveUs  Life  of  Johnson,  p.  132. 

"  It  must  be  agreed  that  in  most  ages  many  countries  have  had 
part  of  their  inhabitants  in  a  state  of  slavery;  yet  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  slavery  can  ever  be  supposed  the  natural  condition 
of  man.  It  is  impossible  not  to  conceive  that  men  in  their  original 
state  were  equal ;  and  very  difficult  to  imagine  how  one  would  be 
subjected  to  another  but  by  violent  compulsion.  An  individual 
may,  indeed,  forfeit  his  liberty  by  a  crime ;  but  he  cannot  by  that 
crime  forfeit  the  liberty  of  his  children.  What  is  true  of  a  criminal 
seems  true  likewise  of  a  captive.  A  man  may  accept  life  from  a 
conquering  enemy  on  condition  of  perpetual  servitude ;  but  it  is 
very  doubtful  whether  he  can  entail  that  servitude  on  his  descend 
ants  ;  for  no  man  can  stipulate  without  commission  for  another. 
The  condition  which  he  himself  accepts,  his  son  or  grandson  would 
have  rejected.  If  we  should  admit,  what  perhaps  may  with  more 


7Q  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

reason  be  denied,  that  there  are  certain  relations  between  man  and 
man  which  may  make  slavery  necessary  and  just,  yet  it  can  never 
be  proved  that  he  who  is  now  suing  for  his  freedom  ever  stood  in. 
any  of  those  relations.  He  is  certainly  subject  by  no  law,  but  that 
of  violence,  to  his  present  master,  who  pretends  no  claim  to  his 
obedience  but  that  he  bought  him  from  a  merchant  of  slaves,  whose 
right  to  sell  him  never  was  examined.  It  is  said  that  according 
to  the  constitutions  of  Jamaica  he  was  legally  enslaved ;  these  con 
stitutions  are  merely  positive,  and  apparently  injurious  to  the  rights 
of  mankind,  because  whoever  is  exposed  to  sale  is  condemned  to 
slavery  without  appeal,  by  whatever  fraud  or  violence  he  might 
have  originally  been  brought  into  the  merchant's  power.  In  our 
own  time,  princes  have  been  sold,  by  wretches  to  whose  care  they 
were  intrusted,  that  they  might  have  an  European  education ;  but 
when  once  they  were  brought  to  a  market  in  the  plantations,  little 
would  avail  either  their  dignity  or  their  wrongs.  The  laws  of 
Jamaica  afford  a  neg'ro  no  redress.  His  colour  is  considered  as  a 
sufficient  testimony  against  him.  It  is  to  be  lamented  that  moral 
right  should  ever  give  way  to  political  convenience.  But  if  tempta 
tions  of  interest  are  sometimes  too  strong  for  human  virtue,  let  us 
at  least  retain  a  virtue  where  there  is  no  temptation  to  quit  it.  In 
the  present  case  there  is  apparent  right  on  one  side,  and  no  con 
venience  on  the  other.  Inhabitants  of  this  island  can  neither  gain 
riches  nor  power-  by  taking  away  the  liberty  of  any  part  of  the 
human  species.  'The  sum  of  the  argument  is  this :  No  man  is  by 
nature  the  property  of  another.  The  defendant  is,  therefore,  by 
nature,  free.  The  rights  of  nature  must  be  some  way  forfeited 
before  they  can  be  justly  taken  away.  That  the  defendant  has, 
by  any  act,  forfeited  the  rights  of  nature,  we  require  to  be  proved ; 
und  if  no  proof  of  such  forfeiture  can  be  given,  we  doubt  not  but 
the  justice  of  the  court  will  declare  him  free." 

The  author  of  this  production  has  artfully  surrounded  his  sub 
ject  with  such  a  plausibility  of  concessive  proposals,  doubtful  sug 
gestions,  indefinite  words  and  propositions,  as  will  require  a  sifting 
of  his  ideas  into  a  more  distinct  view.  And  we  fear  some  will  find 
his  argument  thus  vague  and  indeterminate  ;  the  mind  will  pass  it 
by,  as  one  of  those  learned  masterpieces  of  logic,  so  distant  from 
the  eye  of  our  common  judgment,  that  they  will  sooner  yield  their 
assent  than  endure  the  labour  of  examination. 

The  first  suggestion  we  would  offer  on  the  subject  of  this  pro 
duction  is  its  total  inapplicability  to  the  case.  The  negro  was 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  71 

held  a  slave  in  Jamaica.  The  inquiry  was  not,  whether  he  was  so 
held  in  obedience  to  the  British  law  regulating  the  institution  of 
slavery  in  Jamaica.  The  only  question  was,  whether  a  slave  in 
Jamaica,  or  elsewhere,  who  had  by  any  means  found  his  way  into 
Scotland,  was  or  was  not  free  by  operation  of  law.  Not  a  word 
is  directed  to  that  point.  And  the  court  of  session  must  have 
regarded  its  introduction  before  them  as  an  argument  in  the  case, 
as  idle  and  as  useless  as  would  have  been  a  page  from  his  Rasselas. 
The  British  government  established  negro  slavery  by  law  in  all  her 
colonies,  but  made  no  provision  by  which  the  slave,  when  once 
found  on  the  shores  of  England,  could  be  taken  thence  again  into 
slavery. 

The  object,  no  doubt,  was  wholly  to  prevent  their  introduction 
there,  in  favour  to  her  own  labouring  poor.  The  British  mo 
narchy  retained  the  whole  subject  of  slavery  under  its  own  control. 
The  colonies  had  no  voice  in  the  matter.  They  had  no  political 
right  to  say  that  the  slave,  thus  imposed  on  them,  should,  after  ho 
had  found  his  way  into  any  part  of  the  British  Isles,  be  reclaimed, 
and  their  right  of  property  in  him  restored.  Their  political  con 
dition  differed  widely  from  the  condition  of  these  United  States 
at  the  formation  of  this  republic. 

They,  as  colonial  dependants,  had  no  power  to  dictate  protection 
to  their  own  rights,  or  to  insist  on  a  compromise  of  conflicting 
interests  to  be  established  by  law. 

Dr.  Johnson's  argument  is  exclusively  directed  against  the  po 
litical  and  moral  propriety  of  the  institution  of  slavery  as  a  state 
or  condition  of  man  anywhere,  instead  of  the  true  question  at 
issue.  The  argument,  taken  as  a  whole,  is,  therefore,  a  sophism, 
of  the  order  which  dialecticians  call  "  ignoratio  elenchi ;"  a 
dodging  of  the  question  ;  a  substitution  of  something  for  the  ques 
tion  which  is  not ;  a  practice  common  among  the  pert  pleaders  of 
the  day — sometimes,  doubtless,  without  their  own  perception  of  the 
fact.  In  regard  to  him  who  uses  this  sophism  to  effect  the  issue, 
the  conclusion  is  inevitable, — he  is  either  dishonest  or  he  is  ignorant 
of  his  subject.  And  when  we  come  to  examine  this  celebrated 
production  as  an  argument  against  the  moral  propriety  of  the  ex 
istence  of  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  world,  we  shall  find 
every  pillar  presented  for  its  foundation  a  mere  sophism,  now 
quite  distinctly,  and  again  more  feebly  enunciated,  as  if  with  a 
more  timid  tongue,  and  left  to  inquiry,  adorned  by  festoons  of 
doubt  and  supposition. 


72  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

We  shall  requote  some  portions,  with  a  view  to  their  more  par 
ticular  consideration.  And,  first,  "Yet  it  maybe  doubted  whether 
slavery  can  ever  be  supposed  the  natural  condition  of  man."  This 
clause,  when  put  in  the  crucible,  reads,  "  Yet  slavery  can  never 
exist  in  conformity  to  the  law  of  God."  Whoever  doubts  this  to 
be  the  sense,  we  ask  him  to  suppose  what  the  sense  is !  The 
author  did  not  choose  these  few  words  to  express  the  proposition, 
because  the  law  of  God  could  readily  be  produced  in  contradiction  : 
"  Whosoever  committeth  sin  is  the  servant  (So^oj,  doulos,  SLAVE)  of 
sin."  Besides,  then,  he  loses  the  benefit  of  the  sophism, — the 
substitution  of  the  condition  of  man  in  his  fallen  state,  through 
the  ambiguity  of  the  word  "  natural,"  for  the  condition  of  the  first 
man,  fresh  from  the  hand  of  the  Creator.  This  sophism  is  one 
of  great  art  and  covertness  ;  so  much  so,  that  it  takes  its  character 
rather  from  its  effect  on  the  mind  than  from  its  language ;  and  we 
therefore  desire  him  who  reads,  to  notice  the  whole  chain  of  thought 
passing  in  the  author's  mind, — lest  he  forget  how  our  present  state 
is  the  subject  of  contemplation  offered  as  data,  when,  on  the  word 
"natural,"  as  if  it  were  a  potter's  wheel,  our  original  conditions 
turned  to  the  front,  a  postulate,  from  which  we  are  left  to  compare 
and  conclude. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Bible  is,  that  slavery  is  the  consequence  of 
sin.  If  "natural"  be  taken  to  mean  the  quality  of  a  state  of 
perfect  holiness  and  purity,  then  slavery  cannot  be  the  natural 
condition  of  man ;  no  doubts  are  required  in  the  case.  But  if 
"natural"  is  used  to  express  the  quality  of  our  condition  under 
sin,  sinking  us  under  the  curse  of  the  law,  then  the  propriety  of 
its  use  will  not  be  "doubtful,"  when  applied  to  slavery,  because  it 
is  a  consequent  of  the  quality  of  the  condition.  "  Cursed  is  every 
one  that  continueth  not  in  all  things  which  are  written  in  the  book 
of  the  law  to  do  them."  The  proposition,  as  thus  explained,  we 
think  of  no  value  in  the  argument ;  but,  as  left  by  the  author, 
obscure,  its  real  meaning  and  intent  not  obviously  perceived  nor 
easily  detected,  and  he  may  have  thought  it  logical  and  sound. 

"  It  is  impossible  not  to  conceive  that  men,  in  their  original 
state,  were  equal." 

Here  is  another  sophism,  which  the  learned  call  petitio  principii, 
introduced  without  the  least  disguise, — the  assumption  of  a  pro 
position  without  proof,  which,  upon  examination,  is  not  true.  If 
the  author  mean,  by  "original  state,"  the  state  of  man  in  para 
dise,  we  have  no  method  of  examining  facts,  except  by  a  comparison 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  73 


of  Adam  with  Eve,  who  was  placed  in  subjection.  And  if  we  may 
be  permitted  to  examine  the  state  of  holy  beings  more  elevated 
than  was  man, — "For  thou  hast  made  him  a  little  lower  than  the 
angels," — then,  by  analogy,  we  shall  find  it  possible  to  conceive  that 
men,  in  the  original  state,  were  not  equal,  since  even  the  angels, 
who  do  the  commands  of  God,  are  described  as  those  "  that  excel 
in  strength."  ,' 

But  if  Dr.  Johnson  mean  the  state  of  man  after  the  fall,  then 
Cain  was  told  by  God  himself,  that,  if  he  did  well,  he  should  have 
rule  over  Abel. 

"  And  very  difficult  to  imagine  how  one  would  be  subjected  to 
another,  but  by  violent  compulsion."  The  object  of  this  singular 
remark  is  to  enforce  the  proposition,  That  slavery  is  incompatible 
with  the  law  of  God,  which  is  not  true. 

"And  if  the  servant  shall  plainly  say,  *I  love  my  master 
*  *  *  I  will  not  go  out  free:'  then  his  master  shall  bring 
him  *  *  *  an(j  ne  shall  serve  (be  a  slave  to)  him  for  ever." 

But  if  it  shall  be  said  the  value  of  the  passage  quoted  resides 
in  the  term  "  violent  compulsion;"  that  "violent  compulsion," 
sufficient  to  make  a  man  a  slave,  is  incompatible  with  the  law  of 
God,  then  it  will  have  no  weight  in  the  argument,  because  the 
"violent  compulsion"  used  maybe  in  conformity  to  the  law  of 
God.  "  And  I  will  cause  thee  to  serve  (be  a  slave)  to  thine  ene 
mies  in  the  land  which  thou  knowest  not." 

"  An  individual  may  indeed  forfeit  his  liberty  by  crime ;  but  he 
cannot  forfeit  the  liberty  of  his  children." 

This,  as  a  proposition,  presents  a  sophism  of  the  order  non 
causa  pro  causa,  in  reverse.  We  all  agree  a  man  may  forfeit  his 
liberty  by  crime ;  but  how  are  we  to  deduce  from  this  fact  that 
the  liberty  of  the  child  cannot  be  affected  by  the  same  crime  ? 
The  truth  is,  the  crime  that  deprives  a  parent  of  liberty,  may,  or 
may  not,  deprive  the  child.  The  framework. of  this  sophism  is 
quite  subtle ;  it  implies  the  sophism,  "  a  dicto  secundum  quid,  ad 
dictum  simpliciter"  to  have  full  effect  on  the  mind.  Because,  in 
truth,  the  crime  that  deprives  the  parent  of  liberty  does  not  in 
variably  involve  the  liberty  of  the  child,  we  are,  therefore,  asked 
to  assent  to  the  proposition  that  it  never  does.  But,  perhaps,  an 
analysis  of  the  proposition  before  us  may  be  more  plain  to  some, 
when  we  remark,  what  is  true  in  all  such  compound  sophisms,  that 
the  proposition  containing  it  is  divisible  into  two  distinct  pro 
positions. 


74  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 

In  this  case,  the  first  one  is  true, — the  second  not.  If,  by 
crime,  a  man  forfeits  his  life,  he  forfeits  his  liberty.  If  he  is  put 
to  death  previous  to  a  condition  of  paternity,  its  prospect  is  cut  off 
with  him.  Those  beings  who,  otherwise,  might  have  been  his  de 
scendants,  will  never  exist.  Hence  rude  nations,  from  such  analogy, 
in  case  of  very  high  crimes,  destroyed,  with  the  parent,  all  his  ex 
isting  descendants.  Ancient  history  is  full  of  such  examples. 
The  principle  is  the  same  as  the  more  modern  attaint,  and  is 
founded,  if  in  no  higher  law,  in  the  common  sense  of  mankind ; 
for,  when  the  statute  establishing  attaints  is  repealed,  the  public 
mind  and  the  descendant  both  feel  that  the  attaint  essentially 
exists,  even  without  law  to  enforce  it.  Who  does  not  perceive 
that  the  descendants  of  certain  traitors  are  effectually  attainted  at 
the  present  day,  even  among  the  most  enlightened  nations.  He 
who  denies  that  the  crime  of  the  parent  can  affect  the  liberty  of 
the  child,  must  also  deny  that  the  character  of  the  parent  can 
affect  him ;  a  fact  that  almost  universally  exists,  and  which  every 
one  knows. 

"  Let  his  children  be  continually  vagabonds  and  beg ;     *     * 
let  his  posterity  be  cut  off;     *     *     *     let  the  iniquities  of  his 
fathers  be  remembered  with  the  Lord." 

This  doctrine  was  recognised  and  practised  by  the  church,  even 
in  England,  in  the  more  early  ages.  Let  one  instance  suffice. 
About  the  year  560,  Mauricus,  a  Christian  king  of  Wales,  com 
mitted  perjury  and  murdered  Cynetus, — whereupon,  Odouceus, 
Bishop  of  Llandaff,  in  full  synod,  pronounced  excommunication, 
and  cursed,  for  ever,  him  and  all  his  offspring.  See  Milton's 

EIKONOKAA2THS,  Cap.  28. 

This  principle  actively  exists  in  the  physical  world.  The  pa 
rent  contracts  some  loathsome  disease — the  offspring  are  physically 
deteriorated  thereby.  He  whose  moral  and  physical  degradation 
are  such  that  slavery  to  him  is  a  blessing,  with  few  exceptions,  will 
find  his  descendants  fit  only  for  that  condition.  The  children  of 
parents  whose  conduct  in  life  fostered  some  mental  peculiarity, 
are  quite  likely,  with  greater  or  less  intensity,  to  exhibit  traces  of 
the  same.  "  The  parents  have  eaten  sour  grapes,  and  the  chil 
dren's  teeth  are  set  on  edge."  The  law  is  not  repealed  by  the 
mantle  of  love,  which,  in  mercy,  the  Saviour  has  spread  over  the 
world,  any  more  than  forgiveness  blots  out  the  fact  of  a  crime. 
The  hope  of  happiness  hereafter  alleviates  present  suffering,  but, 
in  no  sense,  annihilates  a  cause  which  has  previously  existed. 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  75 

"A  man  may  accept  life  from  a  conquering  enemy  on  condition 
of  perpetual  servitude ;  but  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  he  can  en 
tail  that  servitude  on  his  descendants ;  for  no  man  can  stipulate, 
without  commission,  for  another." 

All  that  is  presented  as  argument  here,  is  founded  upon  the 
proposition,  that  no  man  can  stipulate  for  his  descendants,  whether 
unborn  or  not. 

If  what  we  have  before  said  be  true,  little  need  be  said  on  the 
subject  of  this  paragraph.  For  we  have  already  seen  that  the 
conduct  of  the  ancestor,  to  an  indefinite  extent,  both  physically 
influences  and  morally  binds  the  condition  of  the  offspring.  It  is 
comparatively  but  a  few  ages  since,  over  the  entire  world,  the 
parent  had  full  power,  by  law,  to  put  his  children  to  death  for 
crime,  or  to  sell  them  into  slavery  for  causes  of  which  he  was  the 
judge.  And  it  may  be  remarked,  that  such  is  the  present  law 
among,  perhaps,  all  the  tribes  who  furnish  from  their  own  race 
slaves  for  the  rest  of  the  world.  It  is  not  necessary  here  to  show 
why  a  people,  who  find  such  laws  necessary  to  their  welfare,  also 
find  slavery  a  blessing  to  them. 

Civilization  has  ameliorated  these,  to  us,  harsh  features  of 
parental  authority ;  yet,  to-day,  the  world  can  scarcely  produce  a 
case  where  the  condition  of  the  child  has  not  been  greatly  affected 
by  the  stipulations,  the  conduct,  the  influences  of  the  parent,  wholly 
beyond  its  control.  The  relation  of  parent  has  ever  been  found 
a  sufficient  commission  to  bind  these  results  to  the  condition  of  the 
offspring. 

"  But  our  fathers  dealt  proudly,  and  hardened  their  necks,  and 
hearkened  not  to  thy  commandments,  and  refused  to  obey  ;  *  *  * 
and  in  their  rebellion  appointed  a  captain  to  return  to  their 
bondage." 

"The  condition  which  he  (the  captive)  accepts,  his  son  or 
grandson  would  have  rejected." 

This,  at  most,  is  supposititious,  and,  as  an  argument,  we  think, 
extremely  weak ;  because  it  implies,  either  that  the  acceptance  of 
the  parent  was  not  the  result  of  necessity,  and  the  wisest  choice 
between  evils,  or  that  the  rejection,  by  the  son,  was  the  fruit  of 
extravagant  pretension. 

"He  that  is  extravagant  will  quickly  become  poor,  and  poverty 
will  enforce  dependence  and  invite  corruption."  *  *  *  "I 
have  avoided  that  empyrical  morality  that  cures  one  vice  by  the 
means  of  another."  Johnson  s  Rambler. 


76  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

"If  we  should  admit,  what  perhaps  with  more  reason  may  be  denied, 
that  there  are  certain  relations  between  man  and  man,  which  may 
make  slavery  necessary  and  just,  yet  it  can  never  be  proved,  that  he, 
who  is  suing  for  his  freedom,  ever  stood  in  any  of  these  relations." 

We  cannot  pretend  to  know  what  were  the  particular  facts  in 
relation  to  the  slavery  of  the  individual  then  in  Scotland.  It  is 
not,  however,  pretended  that  the  facts  in  relation  to  this  slave  were 
not  the  facts  in  relation  to  all  others.  No  suggestion  of  any  ille 
gality  as  to  his  slavery  in  Jamaica  is  made,  other  than  the  broad 
ground  of  the  illegality  of  slavery  itself.  This  is  quite  evident 
from  what  follows : 

"  He  is  certainly  subject,  by  no  law  but  that  of  violence,  to  his 
present  master,  who  pretends  no  claim  to  his  obedience,  but  that 
he  bought  him  from  a  merchant  of  slaves,  whose  right  to  sell  him 
was  never  examined." 

In  the  passage  under  consideration,  we  are  confined  wholly  to 
negro  slavery  ;  and  had  Dr.  Johnson  been  serious  in  admitting  that 
slavery,  under  "certain  relations,"  was  "necessary  and  just,"  he 
would  have  yielded  his  case ;  because,  then,  the  slave  in  hand  would 
have  been  placed  in  the  category  of  proving  that  he  did  not  exist 
under  these  relations.  Johnson  well  knew  that  slavery  existed  in 
Jamaica  by  the  sanction  of  the  British  Parliament,  and  he  mani 
fests  his  contempt  for  it,  by  the  assertion  that  the  slave  was  held 
only  by  the  law  of  force.  He  was,  therefore,  not  reaching  for  the 
freedom  of  that  particular  slave,  but  for  the  subversion  of  slavery 
as  a  condition  of  man. 

The  author  has  heretofore  signified  a  willingness  to  admit  the 
lawfulness  of  slavery,  when  induced  by  "crime  or  captivity ;"  but 
now  denies  the  validity  of  such  admission,  because  the  relations  of 
"  crime  and  captivity"  can  never  be  proved.  The  apparent  object 
of  his  admission  was  merely  to  rally  us,  by  his  liberality,  to  the 
admission  that  these  relations  could  never  be  proved;  and  we 
admit  they  never  can  be  in  the  way  he  provides  ;  and  he  there 
fore  announces  the  demonstration  of  the  proposition,  that  slavery 
can  never  be  just,  because  "these  relations,"  which  alone  make  it 
so,  can  never  be  established.  But  what  are  the  reasons  ?  They 
are  the  very  causes  which  render  the  Africans  obnoxious  to  the 
condition  of  slavery — the  degraded,  deteriorated,  and  savage  state 
of  that  people.  The  negro  slave,  in  his  transit  from  the  interior 
of  Africa,  is  often  sold  many  times,  by  one  master  and  chieftain  to 
another,  before  he  reaches  the  western  coast,  whence  he  was  trans- 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  77 

ferred  by  the  slave  factors  to  the  English  colonies.  No  memory 
of  these  facts,  or  of  the  slave's  origin,  is  preserved  or  attempted. 
Under  these  circumstances,  though  each  individual  of  these  slaves 
induced  the  condition  by  "crime  or  captivity,"  such  fact  could 
never  be  established  in  the  English  colony.  To  attempt  proof 
there  of  any  fact  touching  the  case,  would  be  as  idle  and  futile  as 
to  attempt  such  proof  in  regard  to  the  biography  of  a  baboon. 
Besides,  the  truth  is,  a  very  large  portion  of  these  slaves  were 
born  slaves  in  Africa,  inheriting  their  condition  from  a  slave 
ancestry  of  unknown  ages,  and  recognised  to  be  slaves  by  the  laws 
and  customs  of  the  various  tribes  there,  and  sent  to  market  as  a 
surplus  commodity,  in  accordance  to  the  laws  and  usages  among 
them,  enforced  from  time  immemorial. 

So  far  as  we  have  knowledge  of  the  various  families  of  man,  we 
believe  it  to  have  ever  been  the  practice  for  one  nation  to  receive 
the  national  acts  of  another  as  facts  fixed,  and  not  subject  to 
further  investigation  or  alteration  by  a  foreign  people,  especially 
when  none  but  the  people  making  the  decision  were  affected  by  it. 
Johnson  surely  must  have  agreed  to  such  a  practice,  because  an 
opposite  course,  so  far  as  carried  into  action,  would  have  involved 
every  nation  in  universal  war  and  endless  bloodshed.  Besides, 
the  right  to  usurp  such  control  would  involve  the  right  to  enslave' 
and  can  only  exist  when  the  degeneracy  of  a  nation  has  become 
too  great  a  nuisance  to  be  longer  tolerated  with  safety  by  the 
people  annoyed  :  self-protection  will  then  warrant  the  right. 

If  England  makes  it  lawful  for  her  subjects  to  buy  slaves  in 
Africa  and  hold  them  in  Jamaica,  then  her  subjects  may  lawfully 
hold  there  such  as  are  decided  by  the  laws  of  Africa  to  be  slaves. 
But  the  author  of  the  argument,  with  all  this  before  him,  having 
dictated  what  alone  shall  make  a  man  a  slave,  would  propose  to 
set  up  a  new  tribunal  contrary  to  all  international  law— contrary 
to  the  peace  of  the  world— and,  finally,  as  to  the  object  to  which 
it  is  to  be  applied,  forever  abortive :  wherefore  his  argument  in 
effect  is,  because  "these  relations,"  which  he  admits  would  justly 
make  a  man  a  slave,  cannot  be  proved,  therefore  what  he  admits 
to  be  true  is  not  true ;  and  puts  us  in  mind  of  the  sophism  :  "  If,  when 
a  man  speaks  truth,  he  says  he  lies,  he  lies ;  but  he  lies  when  he 
speaks  the  truth;  therefore,  by  speaking  the  truth,  he  lies!" 
which  we  think  about  as  relevant  to  the  question. 

In  his  conclusion,  Dr.  Johnson  frankly  acknowledges  the  position 
we  have  assigned  him : — 


78  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

"  The  sum  of  the  argument  is  this :  No  man  is,  by  nature,  the 
property  of  another.  The  defendant,  therefore,  is  free  by  nature. 
The  rights  of  nature  must  be  someway  forfeited  before  they  can  be 
justly  taken  away." 

There  are,  in  our  language,  but  few  words  of  which  we  make 
such  loose  and  indefinite  use  as  we  do  of  the  word  "  nature,"  and 
its  variously  modified  forms.  It  would  elucidate  what  we  wish  to 
bring  to  mind  concerning  the  use  of  this  word,  to  select  some  ver 
bose  author,  of  a  fanatical  habit  of  thought,  or  enough  so  to  favour 
a  negligence  as  to  the  clearness  of  the  ideas  expressed  by  the  terms 
at  his  command,  and  compare  the  varied  meanings  which  his  appli 
cation  of  the  word  will  most  clearly  indicate.  We  do  not  accuse 
Dr.  Johnson  of  any  want  of  astute  learning,  but  we  wish  to  pre 
sent  an  excuse  for  explaining  that,  by  his  use  of  the  phrases,  "men 
by  nature" — "by  nature  free" — "  the  rights  of  nature,"  he  means, 
the  rights  established  by  the  laws  of  Grod.  He  uses  those  phrases 
as  synonyms  of  the  Creator,  of  his  providence  influencing  the  con 
dition  of  man,  or  the  adaptations  bestowed  on  him.  The  laws  of 
nature  are  the  laws  of  God.  And  we  are  bold  to  say,  no  discreet 
writer  uses  the  words  differently.  As  a  sample  of  its  legitimate 
use,  we  quote  "Milton  to  Hortlib  on  Education:" — 

"  Not  to  mention  the  learned  correspondence  which  you  hold  in 
foreign  parts,  and  the  extraordinary  pains  and  diligence  which  you 
have  used  in  this  matter,  both  here  and  beyond  the  seas ;  either  by 
the  definite  will  of  God  so  ruling,  or  the  peculiar  sway  of  nature, 
which  also  is  God's  working,"  &c. 

We  all  agree  that  God  has  made  the  world,  and  all  things  therein, 
and  that  he  established  laws  for  its  government,  and  also  for  the 
government  of  every  thing  in  it.  Now  we  must  all  agree  that  it 
was  an  act  of  great  condescension,  love,  and  mercy,  if  God  did 
come  down  from  his  throne  in  heaven,  and,  from  his  own  mouth 
instruct  a  few  of  the  lost  men  then  in  the  world,  his  chosen  people, 
what  were  some  of  his  laws,  such  as  were  necessary  for  them  to 
know  and  to  be  governed  by,  that  they  might,  to  the  greatest  pos 
sible  extent,  live  happily  in  this  world,  and  enjoy  eternal  life  here 
after.  Do  you  believe  he  did  so  ?  You  either  believe  he  did,  or 
you  believe  the  Bible  is  a  fable.  If  you  believe  he  did,  then  we 
refer  you  to  Ex.  xx.  and  xxi.,  and  to  Lev.  xxv.,  for  what  he  did 
then  reveal,  as  his  law,  on  the  subject  of  slavery ;  not  that  other 
important  revelations  were  not  made  concerning  this  subject,  which 
we  shall  have  occasion  to  notice  in  the  course  of  these  studies. 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  79 

If  we  believe  the  Bible  to  be  a  true  book,  then  we  must  believe 
that  God  did  make  these  revelations  to  Moses.  Among  them,  one 
law  permitted  the  Israelites  to  buy,  and  inherit,  and  to  hold  slaves. 
And  Dr.  Wayland,  the  author  of  "  The  Elements  of  Moral  Science," 
agrees  that  what  was  the  law  of  God  must  ever  remain  to  be  so/ 

It  will  follow  then,  if  the  laws  of  God  authorize  slavery,  that  a 
man  by  nature  may  be  the  property  of  another,  because,  whatever 
you  may  think  the  laws  of  nature  to  be,  yet  they  can  have  no 
validity  in  opposition  to  the  laws  of  God.  If  it  shall  be  said  that 
Jesus  Christ  repealed  the  law  as  delivered  to  Moses,  then  we  an- 
*swer :  He  says  he  came  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil  the  law ;  and 
that  he  fully  completed  his  mission.  He  had  no  commission  to 
repeal  the  law :  therefore  he  had  no  power  to  do  so. 

This  portion  of  Dr.  Johnson's  argument  is  consonant  with  the 
notions  of  the  advocates  of  the  "higher  law"  doctrine,  who  persist 
that  slavery  is  a  sin,  because  they  think  it  is. 

But  if  the  law  permitted  slavery,  then  to  hold,  cannot  be  a  sin, 
because  God  "frameth  not  mischief  by  a  law."  See  Ps.  xciv.  20. 
"Wo  unto  them  that  decree  unrighteous  decrees."  Isa.  x.  1.  If 
the  law  authorizing  the  Jews  to  hold  slaves  was  unrighteous, 
then  God  pronounces  the  wo  upon  himself,  which  is  gross  contra 
diction. 

But  the  law  is  "pure,  holy,  and  just;"  therefore  a  law  permit 
ting  sin  must  be  against  itself— which  cannot  be ;  for,  in  such  case, 
the  law  recoils  against  itself,  and  destroys  its  own  end  and  character. 
But  again :  "  The  end  of  the  commandment  is  charity  out  of  a 
pure  heart,  and  of  a  good  conscience,  and  faith  unfeigned."  1  Tim. 
i.  5.  Now  it  is  not  charity  to  permit  that  which  cannot  be  done 
with  a  pure  heart,  because  then  conscience  and  faith  are  both 
deceived. 

Again :  The  law  "  beareth  not  the  sword  in  vain,  but  to  be  a 
terror  to  evil  works,  for  he  (the  instrument  executing  the  law)  is 
the  minister  of  God,  a  revenger  to  execute  wrath  upon  him  that 
doeth  evil." 

If  slavery,  or  to  hold  slaves,  be  sin,  then  also  the  law  granting 
the  license  to  do  so  destroys  the  very  object  which  it  was  enacted 
to  sustain.  But  again :  If  the  law  allows  sin,  then  it  is  in  covenant 
with  sin ;  and  the  law  itself,  therefore,  must  be  sin. 

In  short,  the  doctrine  is  pure  infidelity.  It  is  destructive  to  the 
object  of  law,  and  blasphemous  to  God.  What  are  we  to  think  of 
him  who  holds  that  God  descended  in  the  majesty  of  his  power 


80  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

upon  Sinai,  and  there,  from  the  bottomless  treasures  of  his  wisdom 
and  purity,  commanding  man  to  wash  his  garment  of  every  pollu 
tion,  opened  to  him — what  ?  Why,  an  unclean  system  of  morals, 
stained  by  a  most  unholy  impurity ;  but  which  he  is  nevertheless 
to  practise  to  the  damning  of  his  soul !  Atheism,  thou  art  indeed 
a  maniac  ! 

In  the  course  of  these  studies,  we  shall  attempt  to  show  that  man 
is  not  free  in  the  unlimited  sense  with  which  the  word  is  here  used. 
Absolute  freedom  is  incompatible  with  a  state  of  accountability. 
Say,  if  you  choose,  Adam  was  free  in  paradise  to  eat  the  apple,  to 
commit  sin,  yet  we  find  his  freedom  was  bounded  by  an  account-* 
ability  beyond  his  power  to  give  satisfactory  answer :  hence  the 
consequent,  a  change  of  state,  a  circumscribing  of  what  you  may 
call  his  freedom.  This,  in  common  parlance,  we  call  punishment : 
yet  our  idea  of  punishment  is  inadequate  to  express  the  full  idea ; 
because  God  cannot  be  supposed  to  delight  in  punishment,  or  to 
be  satisfied  with  punishment,  in  accordance  with  our  narrow  views. 
Such  would  be  inconsistent  with  the  combination  of  his  attributes 
— a  Being  so  constituted  of  all  power,  that  each  power  is  pre 
dominant,  even  love  and  mercy.  Thus  the  law  of  God  clothes  the 
effect  in  mercy  and  positive  good,  inversely  to  the  virulence  of  the 
cause,  or  in  direct  proportion  to  its  propriety.  Thus,  righteous 
ness,  as  a  cause,  exalteth  a  nation ;  but  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any 
people.  Thus  the  law  of  God  places  the  sinner  under  the  govern 
ment  of  shame,  infamy,  contempt,  as  schoolmasters  to  lead  him 
back  to  virtue ;  and  it  may  be  observed  that  the  schoolmaster  is 
more  forcing  in  his  government  in  proportion  to  the  virulence  of 
vice,  down  to  the  various  grades  of  subjection  and  slavery,  and 
until  the  poison  becomes  so  great  that  even  death  is  a  blessing. 

But  if  the  mind  cannot  perceive  that  the  chastenings  of  the 
Lord  are  blessings,  let  it  regard  them  as  lessons.  The  parent, 
from  the  waywardness  of  the  child,  perceives  that  it  will  fall  from 
a  precipice,  and  binds  it  with  a  cord  to  circumscribe  its  walk. 
True,  such  are  poor  figures  to  outline  a  higher  Providence ! 

The  Being  who  created,  surely  had  power  to  appoint  the  govern 
ment.  Can  the  thing  created  remain  in  the  condition  in  which 
it  is  placed,  except  by  obedience  to  the  law  established  for  its  go 
vernment  ?  Disobedience  must  change  the  condition  of  the  thing 
and  bring  it  under  new  restraints — a  lessening  of  the  boundaries 
of  freedom.  The  whole  providence  of  God  to  man  is  upon  this 
plan,  and  is  abundantly  illustrated,  in  the  holy  books,  by  precept 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  gl 

and  example.  These  restraints  follow  quick  on  the  footsteps  of 
disobedience,  until  the  law— the  Spirit  shall  no  longer  strive  for  re 
formation,  but  say,  "  Cut  it  down  ;  why  cumbereth  it  the  ground?" 

Is  this  a  too  melancholy  view  ?  Let  us,  then,  look  at  obedience 
and  its  consequents,  and  turn  the  eye  from  this  downward  path  of 
mental  and  physical  degradation,  pain,  misery,  want,  slavery,  and 
death,  to  the  bright  prospect  of  a  more  elevated  state  of  progres 
sive  improvement,  secured  to  us  as  a  consequent,  a  reward  of  obe 
dience ;  the  physical  powers  improving,  the  mental  elevating, 
and  all  our  faculties  becoming  instruments  of  greater  truthfulness, 
until  our  condition  shall  be  so  elevated  that  the  Creator  shall  say, 
"Come  ye  and  sit  at  my  right  hand !" 

The  assertion,  that  uno  man  is  by  nature  the  property  of  an 
other,"  flatters  our  vanity  and  tumefies  our  pride,  but  is,  neverthe 
less,  untrue.  We  are  all  absolutely  the  property  of  Him  who 
made,  and  who  sustains  his  right  to  dispose  of  us ;  and  does  so  in 
conformity  to  his  law.  Thus,  qualifiedly,  we  are  the  property  of 
the  great  family  of  man,  and  are  under  obligations  of  duty  to  all ; 
more  pressingly  to  the  national  community  of  which  we  compose  a 
part,  and  so  on  down  to  the  distinct  family  of  which  we  are  a 
member.  It  is  upon  this  principle  that  Fleta  says,  (book  i,  chap. 
IT,)  "  He  that  has  a  companion  has  a  master."  See  also  the  same 
in  Bracton,  book  i.  chap.  16. 

If,  by  the  laws  of  God,  other  men  could  have  no  property  in  us, 
the  laws  of  civil  government  could  have  no  right  to  control  us. 
But  if  the  civil  government,  by  the  laws  of  God,  has  the  right  to 
govern  and  control  us,  so  far  as  is  for  the  benefit  of  ourselves  and 
the  community,  then  it  will  follow,  that  when  our  benefit  will  be 
enhanced,  and  that  of  the  community,  by  our  subjection  to  slavery, 
either  temporary  or  perpetual,  the  laws  of  God,  in  mercy,  will 
authorize  such  subjection.  Or,  if  the  state  of  our  degradation  be 
such  that  our  continuance  upon  the  earth  be  an  evil  past  all  re 
medy,  then  the  laws  of  God  will  authorize  the  civil  law  to  decree 
our  exit. 

The  providence  of  God, to  man  is  practical.  He  never  deals 
in  the  silly  abstractions  of  foolish  philosophers.  He  spends  no 
time  in  experimenting  by  eristic  syllogisms.  He  deals  alone  in  his 
own  power,  which  nowhere  ever  ceases  to  act,  although  wholly 
beyond  our  comprehension.  Man  may  long  for  a  full  view  of  the 
Almighty,  yet  we  are  destined  here  to  perceive  but  the  "  hinder 
parts"  of  his  presence — the  effect  of  his  power,  not  Him !  Let 


82  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

us  worship ;  and,  for  our  guidance,  be  content  with  the  pillar  of 
cloud  by  day  and  of  fire  by  night  ! 

In  conclusion :  Should  the  author  of  "  The  Elements  of  Moral 
Science"  examine  this  argument  of  the  great  dialectician  of  the 
past  century,  with  his  acknowledged  logical  acumen,  free  from  the 
prejudices  of  his  locality,  now  so  abundantly  displayed  in  that 
portion  of  his  work  to  which  we  object,  we  would  suggest  the  pro 
priety  of  his  applying  the  discoveries  he  may  make  to  emendations 
in  his  succeeding  thousands. 


STUDIES    0,N    SLAVERY. 


LESSON  I. 

AS  lar  as  men  are  able  to  comprehend  Jehovah,  the  wisest,  in 
all  ages,  have  deduced  the  fact,  that  God  acts ;  yet,  as  an  essential 
Being,  he  is  beyond  being  acted  upon. 

That  which  is  manifested  by  the  character  of  his  acts  is  called 
his  attributes ;  that  is,  the  thing  or  quality  which  we  attribute  to 
him  as  a  portion  or  quality  of  his  essence. 

Thus  among  his  attributes,  are  said  to  be  power,  wisdom,  truth, 
justice,  love,  and  mercy.  His  action  is  always  found  to  be  in  con 
formity  and  accordance  to  these  attributes.  This  state  of  con 
formity,  this  certainty  of  unison  of  action,  is  called  truth.  "  Thy 
word  is  truth."  John  xvii.  7. 

A  system  of  laws,  permanently  established  for  the  production  of 
some  object,  we  call  an  institution. 

Law  is  the  history  of  how  things  are  influenced  by  one  another  ; 
yet  the  mind  should  never  disconnect  such  influence  from  the 
attributes  of  Jehovah;  and  hence  Burke  very  properly  says, 
"  Law  is  beneficence  acting  by  rule."  "  The  law  of  the  Lord  is 
perfect."  Ps.  xix.  7.  The  deduction  follows  that  the  laws  of  God 
are  well  adapted,  and  intended  to  benefit  all  those  who  are  suitably 
related  under  them. 

By  relation  we  mean  the  connection  between  things, — what  one 
thing  is  in  regard  to  the  influence  of  another.  And  hence  it  also 
follows  that,  in  case  the  relation  is  in  utter  want  of  a  conformity 
tc  the  attributes  of  Jehovah,  the  actor  in  the  relation  becomes  an 
opponent,  and,  so  far,  joins  issue  with  God  himself.  The  laws 
fitting  the  case  operate,  and  his  position  is  consumed,  as  it  were, 
by  the  breath  of  the  Almighty. 

But  yet  an  institution  may  be  a  righteous  one,  may  exist  m 


84  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

conformity  to  the  laws  of  God,  and  particular  cases  of  a  relation, 
seeming  to  us  to  emanate  from  it,  be  quite  the  reverse.  For  ex 
ample,  the  institution  of  marriage  may  be  righteous,  may  exist 
in  conformity  to  the  laws  of  God  ;  yet  cases  of  the  relation  of 
husband  and  wife  may  be  a  very  wicked  relation. 

Individuals  in  a  relation  to  each  other  under  an  institution  are 
supposed  to  bear  such  comparison  to  each  other  as  will  permit  the 
laws  of  God,  influencing  the  relation,  to  be  beneficial  to  them ; 
and  when  such  comparative  qualities  are  not  the  most  suitable,  or 
are  more  or  less  unsuitable  for  the  relation,  the  benefits  intended 
by  the  relation  must  be  proportionably  diminished.  If  wholly  un 
suitable,  then  it  is  found  that  the  conservative  influences  of  the 
same  laws  operate  in  the  direction  to  cause  the  relation  to  cease 
between  them. 

If  a  supposed  male  and  female  are  each  distinctly  clothed  with 
qualities  wholly  unsuited  to  each  other  in  the  relation  emanating 
from  the  institution  of  marriage,  then,  in  that  case,  the  relation 
will  be  sinful  between  them ;  and  the  repulsion,  the  necessary  con 
sequence  of  a  total  unsuitableness,  will  be  in  constant  action  in  the 
direction  of  sweeping  it  away. 

Will  it  be  new  in  morals  to  say  that  it  is  consistent  with  the 
ordinances  of  Jehovah  to  bring  things  into  that  relation  to  each 
other  by  which  they  will  be  mutually  benefited  ? 

As  an  exemplification  of  the  doctrine,  we  cite  the  institution  of 
guardianship — guardian  and  ward ;  both  words  derived  from  the 
same  Saxon  root,  weardian,  which  implies  one  who  protects  and 
one  who  is  protected. 

The  institution  itself  presupposes  power  in  the  one  and  weak 
ness  in  the  other,  a  want  of  equality  between  the  parties.  And  it 
may  be  here  remarked,  that,  the  greater  the  inequality,  the  greater 
the  prospect  of  benefit  growing  out  of  the  relation,  especially  to 
the  weaker  party.  But  when  the  weak,  ignorant,  or  wayward 
youth  is  the  guardian,  and  the  powerful  and  wise  man  is  the  ward, 
then  the  relation  will  be  sinful,  and  the  repulsion  necessarily 
emanating  from  the  relation  must  quickly  terminate  it.  No  pos 
sible  benefit  could  accrue  from  such  a  case — nothing  but  evil. 
The  conservative  influence  of  God's  providence  must,  therefore, 
suddenly  bring  it  to  a  close. 

Will  the  assertion  be  odious  to  the  ear  of  truth,  that  the  laws 
of  God  present  the  same  class  of  conservative  influences  in  the 
moral  world  that  is  every  day  discovered  in  the  physical  ? — that 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  85 

the  thing  manifestly  useless,  from  which  no  benefit  can  accrue,  but 
from  which  a  constant  injury  emanates,  shall  be  cut  away,  nor 
longer  "cumber  the  ground?"  Or,  where  a  less  degree  of  enor 
mity  and  sin  have  centered,  it  may  be  placed  under  influences  of 
guidance,  and  controlled  into  the  path  of  regeneration  and  com 
parative  usefulness  ?  Surely,  if  we  detach  from  Jehovah  these 
high  attributes,  we  lessen  his  character. 

When  we  enter  into  the  inquiry,  whether  an  institution,  or  the 
relation  emanating  from  it  in  a  particular  case,  be  sinful  or  not, 
it  seems  obvious  that  the  inquiry  must  reach  the  object  of  the  in 
stitution  and  its  tendencies,  and  take  into  consideration  how  far 
they,  and  the  relations  created  by  it,  coincide  with  the  laws  of  God. 

The  relation  of  master  and  slave,  and  the  institution  of  slavery 
itself,  in  the  inquiry  whether  such  relation  or  institution  is  right 
or  wrong,  just  or  unjust,  righteous  or  sinful,  must  be  subjected  to 
a  like  examination, — applying  the  same  rules  applicable  to  any 
other  relation  or  institution, — before  we  can  determine  whether  or 
not  it  exists  in  conformity  to  the  laws  of  God. 

But  human  reason  is  truly  but  of  small  compass ;  and  the  mercy 
of  God  has  vouchsafed  to  man  the  aids  of  faith  and  inspiration, 
"All  scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God."  2  Tim.  iii.  16. 

These  are  important  aids  in  the  examination  of  all  moral  sub 
jects,  without  which  we  may  be  "  ever  learning  and  never  able  to 
come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth."  2  Tim.  iii.  7. 


LESSON  II. 

IF  it  be  tr^v,  that  slavery  is  of  divine  origin,  that  its  design  is 
to  prevent  so  great  an  accumulation  of  sin  as  would,  of  necessity, 
force  its  subjects  down  to  destruction  and  death,  and  to  restore 
those  who  are  ignorantly,  heedlessly,  and  habitually  rushing  on 
their  own  moral  and  physical  ruin,  by  the  renovating  influence  of 
divine  power,  to  such  a  state  of  moral  rectitude  as  may  be  re 
quired  of  the  recipients  of  divine  grace ; — then  we  should  expect 
to  find,  in  the  history  of  this  institution,  of  its  effects,  both  moral 
and  physical,  upon  its  subjects,  some  manifestations  of  such  ten 
dencies  ;  some  general  evidences  that,  through  this  ordinance,  God 
has  over  blessed  its  subjects  and  their  posterity  with  an  amelio- 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


rated  condition,  progressive  in  the  direction  of  his  great  and  final 
purpose.     Let  us  examine  that  fact. 

In  the  government  of  the  world,  God  has  as  unchangeably  fixed 
his  laws  producing  moral  influences,  as  he  has  those  which  relate 
to  material  objects.  When  we  discover  some  cause,  which,  under 
similar  circumstances,  always  produces  a  similar  result,  we  need 
not  hesitate  to  consider  such  discovery  as  the  revelation  of  his 
will,  his  law  touching  its  action  and  the  effects  produced  ;  and  by 
comparing  the  general  tendency  of  the  effect  produced  with  the 
previously  revealed  laws  and  will  of  God  in  relation  to  a  particular 
matter,  we  are  permitted  to  form  some  conclusion  whether  the 
cause  producing  the  effect  exists  and  acts  in  conformity  with  his 
general  providence  towards  the  matter  or  subject  in  question.  If 
so,  we  may  readily  conclude  that  such  cause  is  of  his  appointment, 
and  that  it  exists  and  acts  agreeably  to  his  will. 

But  one  of  the  previously  revealed  laws  of  God  is,  that  he  ever 
wills  the  happiness,  not  the  misery,  of  his  creatures.  "  Say  unto  them, 
As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of 
the  wicked  ;  but  that  the  wicked  should  turn  from  his  way  and  live  : 
turn  ye,  turn  ye  from  your  evil  ways,  for  why  will  you  die,  0  house 
of  Israel  !"  Ezek.  xxxiii.  11.  And  we  may  form  some  conclusion 
of  a  man,  a  class  of  people,  or  a  nation,  from  their  condition  pro 
duced  by  the  general  result  of  their  conduct,  whether  their  conduct 
has  been  in  general  conformity  with  the  laws  of  God.  If  the 
general  result  of  the  conduct  of  the  thief,  gambler,  tippler,  and 
drunkard,—  of  him  who  lives  by  trickery  and  deception,  is  an  accu 
mulation  of  weight  of  character  among  men,  a  display  of  useful 
industry,  independence,  and  wealth  among  his  associates  ;  if  him 
self  and  family  are  thereby  made  visibly  more  healthy,  happy,  and 
wise?  —  if  by  these  practices  he  and  his  family  become  patterns  of 
piety  and  of  all  noble  virtues,  he  may  hope  ;  but  if  the  contrary 
of  all  these  is  the  final  result,  we  may  safely  condemn. 

Another  of  the  laws  of  God  is,  "  Thine  own  wickedness  shall 
correct  thee,  and  thy  backslidings  shall  reprove  thee."  Jer.  ii.  1 
When  the  characters  just  named  become  so  great  a  nuisance  that 
the  strong  arm  of  the  law  of  the  land  takes  away  their  liberty, 
places  a  master  over  them,  in  fact  reducing  them  to  slavery  ;  forces 
and  compels  them  to  habits  of  useful  industry,  and,  in  a  length  of 
time,  makes  of  them  useful  and  good  men,—  then  this  law  is  exem 
plified  ;  and  also  the  fact  is  proved,  that  slavery,  thus  induced,  is 
attended  with  and  does  produce  an  ameliorated  condition  as  to  the 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


morals,  and  probably  as  to  the  intellectual  and  physical  power,  of 
its  subjects.  This  law  was  also  exemplified  in  the  family  of  Jacob. 
God,  in  the  order  of  his  providence,  had  determined  and  made  a 
covenant  with  Abraham,  to  wit  :  "In  the  same  day  the  Lord 
made  a  covenant  with  Abram,  saying,  Unto  thy  seed  have  I  given 
this  land,  from  the  land  of  Egypt  unto  the  great  river,  the  river 
Euphrates."  Gen.  xv.  18.  This  was  to  be  brought  about  through 
the  family  of  Jacob.  "  And  God  Almighty  bless  thee,  and  make 
thee  fruitful  and  multiply  thee,  that  thou  mayest  be  a  multitude  of 
people,  and  give  the  blessing  of  Abraham  to  thee,  and  to  thy  seed 
with  thee,  that  thou  mayest  inherit  the  land  wherein  thou  art  a 
stranger,  which  God  gave  unto  Abraham."  Gen.  xxviii.  3,  4. 

There  are  left  us  enough  traces  of  the  conduct  of  the  family  of 
Jacob,  whereby  we  may  know  the  fact  that  they,  although  living 
in  the  midst  of  the  promised  land,  had  become  incorrigibly  wicked 
and  licentious.     Judah,  who  seems  to  have  ranked  as  the  head  of 
the  family,  notwithstanding  the  impressive  lesson  in  the  case  of 
Esau,  took  to  himself  a  Canaanitish  wife,  and  his  eldest  sons  be 
came  so  desperately  wicked  that,  in  the  language  of  Scripture, 
God  slew  them.     Even  the  salt  of  slavery  could  not  save  them. 
Of  Shelah,  we  have  no  further  account  than  that  he  went  into 
slavery  in  Egypt.     Instead  of  nurturing  up  his  family  with  pro 
priety  and  prudence,  Judah  seems  to  have  idled  away  his  time  with 
his  friend  the  Adullamite,  hunting  up  the  harlots  of  the  country. 
Reuben  committed  incest  ;  he  went  up  to  his  father's  bed.     Simeon 
and  Levi,   instigated  by  feelings  of  revenge  in  the  case  of  the 
Hivites,  pursued   such  a  course  of  deception,  moral  fraud,  and 
murder,  leading  on  the  rest  of  their  brethren  to  such  acts  of  theft 
and  robbery,  that  Jacob  was  constrained  to  say,  "  Ye  have  troubled 
me,  to  make  me  stink  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  land."   Gen. 
xxxiv.  30.     Jacob  found  his  children  so  lost  to  good  morals,  so 
sunken  in  heathenism  and  idolatry,  that,  hoping  that  a  change  of 
abode  might  also  produce  a  change  of  conduct,  he  was  impelled  to 
command  them,  saying,  "Put  away  the  strange   gods  that  are 
among  you,  and  be  clean,  and  change  your  garments,  and  let  us 
arise  and  go  to  Bethel,  and  I  will  make  there  an  altar  unto  God." 
Gen.  xxxv.  2,  3. 

And  let  us  take  occasion  here  to  notice  the  long-suffering  and 
loving-kindness  of  the  Lord  ;  for,  no  sooner  had  they  taken  this 
resolution,  than  Jehovah,  to  encourage  and  make  them  steadfast  in 
this  new  attempt  in  the  paths  of  virtue,  again  appeared  to  Jacob  : 


gg  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

"  And  God  said  unto  him,  I  am  God  Almighty ;  a  nation,  and  a 
company  of  nations  shall  be  of  thee,  and  kings  shall  come  out  of 
thy  loins.  And  the  land  which  I  gave  to  Abraham  and  to  Isaac, 
to  thee  I  will  give  it,  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee  will  I  give  the 
land."  Gf-en.  xxxv.  11,  12. 

"  But  the  sow  that  was  washed  has  returned  to  her  wallowing 
in  the  mire."  2  Pet.  ii.  22. 

And  what  is  the  next  prominent  state  of  moral  standing  in  which 
we  find  this  family  ?  The  young  and  unsuspecting  Joseph  brought 
unto  his  father  their  evil  report,  and  hence  their  revenge.  "  And 
when  they  saw  him  afar  oif,  even  before  he  came  near  unto  them, 
they  conspired  against  him  to  slay  him.  *  *  And  they  sold 

Joseph  to  the  Ishmaelites  for  twenty  pieces  of  silver."  G-en.  xxxvii. 
2,  and  xviii.  28.  And  against  the  deed  of  fratricide  there  was  but 
one  dissenting  voice ;  and  he,  whose  voice  it  was,  dared  not  boldly 
to  oppose  them.  He  had  not  the  moral  courage  to  contend. 
Sometimes,  in  the  conduct  of  men,  there  may  be  a  single  act  that 
gives  stronger  proof  of  deep,  condemning  depravity,  than  a  whole 
life  otherwise  spent  in  wanton,  wilful  wickedness  and  sensual  sin. 
Their  betrayal  of  the  confidence  of  an  innocent  and  confiding 
brother,  who  neither  had  the  will  nor  the  power  to  injure  them, 
whose  only  wish  was  their  welfare,  bespeaks  a  degradation  of  guilt, 
a  deep  and  abiding  hypocrisy  of  soul  before  God  and  man,  and  a 
general  readiness  to  the  commission  of  crimes  of  so  dark  a  dye, 
that,  it  would  seem  to  moral  view,  no  oblations  of  the  good,  nor 
even  the  prayers  of  the  just,  could  wash  and  wipe  away  the  stain. 
During  the  history  of  all  time,  has  God  ever  chosen  such  wretches 
to  become  the  founders  of  an  empire— his  own  peculiar,  chosen 
people  ?  On  the  contrary,  has  not  his  will,  as  expressed  by  reve 
lation,  and  by  the  acts  of  his  providence,  for  ever  been  the  reverse 
of  such  a  supposition  ?  The  laws  of  God  are  unchangeable :  at 
all  times  and  among  all  people,  the  premises  being  the  same,  their 
operation  has  been  and  will  ever  be  the  same. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  89 


LESSON  III. 

"  LET  favour  be  "showed  to  the  wicked,  yet  will  he  not  learn 
righteousness  ;  in  the  land  of  uprightness  will  he  deal  unjustly, 
and  will  not  behold  the  majesty  of  the  Lord."  Isa.  xxvi.  10. 

"  His  own  iniquities  shall  take  the  wicked  himself,  and  he  shall 
be  holden  by  the  cords  of  his  sins."  Prov.  v.  22. 

"But  it  shall  come  to  pass,  if  thou  wilt  not  hearken  unto  the 
voice  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  to  observe  to  do  all  his  commandments, 
and  his  statutes,  which  I  command  thee  this  day ;  that  all  these 
curses  shall  come  .upon  thee,  and  overtake  thee : 

"  Cursed  shalt  thou  be  in  the  city,  and  cursed  shalt  thou  be  in 
the  field ;  cursed  shalt  thou  be  in  thy  basket  and  thy  store  ; 
cursed  shall  be  the  fruit  of  thy  body  and  the  fruit  of  thy  land ; 
the  increase  of  thy  loins,  and  the  flocks  of  thy  sheep.  Cursed  shalt 
thou  be  when  thou  comest  in ;  and  cursed  shalt  thou  be  when  thou 
goest  out.  The  Lord  shall  send  upon  thee  cursing,  vexation  and 
rebuke  in  all  thou  settest  thy  hand  unto  for  to  do,  until  thou  be 
destroyed,  and  until  thou  perish  quickly;  because  of  the  wicked 
ness  of  thy  doings,  whereby  thou  hast  forsaken  me.  And  the 
Lord  shall  bring  thee  into  Egypt  again  with  ships,  the  way 
whereof  I  spake  unto  thee.  Thou  shalt  see  it  no  more  again ;  and 
there  ye  shall  be  sold  unto  your  enemies  for  bondmen  (DH?^7 
la  ebedim.for  slaves)  and  bondwomen  (fiinfifc'?!  ve  lisheppahofh* 
and  for  female  slaves),  and  no  man  shall  buy  you."  (That  is,  they 
should  be  worthless.)  Deut.  xxviii.  15-68. 

Such,  then,  are  the  unchangeable  laws  of  God  touching  man's 
disobedience  and  non-conformity ;  and,  in  this  instance  of  their 
application,  have  been  seen  fulfilled,  with  wonder  and  astonish 
ment,  by  the  whole  world. 

Consistent  with  the  laws  of  God  and  the  providence  of  Jehovah, 
there  was  no  other  way  to  make  any  thing  out  of  the  wicked 
family  of  Jacob  ;  no  other  means  to  fulfil  his  promise  to  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob,  except  to  prepare  them  in  the  school  of  adversity ; 
to  reduce  them  under  the  severe  hand  of  a  master  ;  to  place  them 
in  slavery,  until,  by  its  compulsive  operation  tending  to  their 
mental,  moral,  and  physical  improvement,  they  would  become 


90  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

fitted  to  enjoy  the  blessing  promised  their  fathers.  "  Compel  them 
to  come  in,  that  my  house  may  be  filled."  Luke  xiv. 

"  And  when  the  sun  was  going  down  a  deep  sleep  fell  upor 
Abraham,  and  a  horror  of  great  darkness  fell  upon  him  ;  and  He 
(the  Lord)  said  unto  Abram,  Know  of  a  surety  that  thy  seed  shall 
be  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land  that  is  not  theirs,  and  shall  sene 
(01*0,1^  va  ebadum^  shall  le  slaves  to)  them;  and  they  shall  afflict 
them  four  hundred  years."  G-en.  xv.  12,  13. 

God  foresaw  what  condition  the  wicked  family  of  Jacob  would 
force  themselves  into ;  nor  is  it  a  matter  of  surprise  that  it  filled 
the  mind  of  Abram  with  horror. 

God  never  acts  contrary  to  his  own  laws.  The  Israelites,  in 
slavery  four  hundred  years  under  hard  and  cruel  masters,  kept 
closely  bound  to  severe  labour,  and  all  the  attendants  of  slavery, 
had  no  time  to  run  into  deeper  sins.  The  humility  of  their  con 
dition  and  distinction  of  race  would  be  some  preventive  to  amalga 
mation,  and  a  preservative  to  their  purity  of  blood ;  and  would 
lead  them  also  to  contemplate  and  worship  the  God  of  Abraham. 
And  let  it  ever  be  remembered  that  the  worship  of  God  is  the  very 
highway  to  intellectual,  moral,  and  physical  improvement,  however 
slow,  under  the  circumstances,  was  their  progress. 

Let  us  take  the  family  of  Jacob,  at  the  time  of  the  selling  of  Joseph, 
and,  from  what  their  conduct  had  been  and  then  was,  form  some 
conjecture  of  what  would  have  been  the  providence  of  God,  touch 
ing  their  race,  at  the  close  of  the  then  coming  four  hundred  years, 
had  not  the  Divine  Mind  seen  fit  to  send  them  into  slavery.  Does 
it  require  much  intellectual  labour  to  set  forth  their  ultimate  con 
dition  ?  Would  not  the  result  have  been  their  total  annihilation 
by  the  action  of  the  surrounding  tribes ;  or  their  equally  certain 
national  extinction  by  their  amalgamation  with  them  ?  If,  by  the 
providence  of  God,  as  manifested  among  men  through  all  time, 
one  of  these  conditions  must  have  attached  to  them,  then  will  it 
follow  that,  to  them,  slavery  was  their  salvation, — under  the  cir 
cumstances  of  the  case,  the  only  thing  that  could  preserve  them 
from  death  and  extinction  on  earth. 

Under  such  view  of  the  facts,  and  the  salvatory  influence  of  the 
institution,  slavery  will  be  hailed  by  the  good,  pious,  and  godly- 
minded,  as  an  emanation  from  the  Divine  Mind,  portraying  a 
fatherly  care,  and  a  watchful  mercy  to  a  fallen  world,  on  a  parallel 
with  the  general  benevolence  of  that  Deity  who  comprehended  his 
own  work,  and  the  welfare  of  his  creatures. 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


The  slavery  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt  for  the  term  of  four  hun 
dred  years  was  a  sentence  pronounced  against  them  by  Jehovah 
himself,  who  had  previously  promised  them  great  worldly  blessings, 
preceded  by  the  promise  of  his  own  spiritual  forbearance,  of  his 
own  holy  mercy,  as  the  ultimate  design  of  his  providence  towards 
them.    And  we  now  ask  him,  who  denies  that  the  design  of  this 
term  of  slavery  was  to  ameliorate  and  suitably  prepare  that  wicked 
race  for  the  reception  and  enjoyment  of  the  promises  made,  to  extri 
cate  himself  from  the  difficulties  in  which  such  denial  will  involve 
the  subject.     We  are  aware  that  there  are  a  class  of  men  so  holy 
in  their  own  sight,  that,  from  what  they  say,  one  might  judge  they 
felt  capable  of  dictating  to  Jehovah  rules  for  his  conduct,  and  that 
they  spurn  in  him  all  that  which  their  view  does  not  comprehend. 
Do  such  forget,  when  they  stretch  forth  their  hand,  imagining  God 
to  be  that  which  suits  them,  but  which  he  is  not,  that  they  make 
an  idol,  and  are  as  much  idolaters  as  they  would  be  had  they  sub 
stituted  wood  and  stone  ?     Such,  God  will  judge.     We  have  no 
hope  our  feeble  voice  will  be  heard  where  the  mind  is  thus  esta 
blished  upon  the  presumption  of  moral  purity—  we  might  say  divine 
foresight.     But,  by  a  more  humble  class,  we  claim  to  be  heard, 
that,  as  mortal  men,  reasoning  by  the  light  it  hath  pleased  God  to' 
give,  we  may  take  counsel  together  in  the  review  of  his  provi 
dences,  as  vouchsafed  to  man,  and,  by  his  blessing  be  enabled  to 
see  enough  to  justify  the  ways  of  the  Almighty  against  the  slanders 
of  his  and  our  enemy. 

The  theological  student  will  notice  the  fact  of  the  holy  books 
abounding  with  the  doctrine  that  the  chastenings  of  the  Lord  ope 
rate  the  moral,  mental,  and  physical  improvement  of  the  chastised; 
and  that  such  chastenings  are  ever  administered  for  that  purpose' 
and  upon  those  whose  sins  call  it  down  upon  them.  "My  son,  despise 
not  the  chastenings  of  the  Lord  ;  neither  be  weary  of  correction  : 
for  those  whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  correcteth  ;  even  as  a  father 
the  son  in  whom  he  delighteth."  Prov.  iii.  11,  12.  "Thus  saith 
the  Lord,  where  is  the  bill  of  thy  mother's  divorcement,  whom  I 
have  put  away  ?  Or  which  of  my  creditors  is  it  to  whom  I  have 
sold  you  ?  Behold,  for  your  iniquities  have  ye  sold  yourselves,  and 
for  your  transgressions  is  your  mother  put  away."  Isa.  1.  1.  ' 

The  garden  of  the  sluggard  produces  weeds  and  want.  We 
know  a  man  of  whom  it  may  be  said,  he  is  inoffensive  ;  but  he  is 
thriftless,  indolent,  and  therefore  miserable.  He  has  never  learned 
those  virtues  that  would  make  him  respectable  or  happy. 


92  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


LESSON  IV. 

"Barnes  on  Slavery.    An  Inquiry  into  the  Scriptural  Views  of  Slavery"     By 
ALBERT  BARNES.     Philadelphia,  1846. 

IN  his  fourth  chapter,  on  the  slavery  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt, 
Rev.  Mr.  Barnes  says — 

"  The  will  of  God  may  often  be  learned  from  the  events  of  his 
providence.  From  his  dealings  with  an  individual,  a  class  of  men 
or  a  nation,  we  may  ascertain  whether  the  course  which  has  been 
pursued  was  agreeable  to  his  will.  It  is  not,  indeed,  always  safe 
to  argue  that,  because  calamities  come  upon  an  individual,  they 
are  sent  as  a  punishment  on  account  of  any  peculiarly  aggravated 
sin,  or  that  these  calamities  prove  that  he  is  a  greater  sinner  than 
others ; — but  when  a  certain  course  of  conduct  always  tends  to  cer 
tain  results — when  there  are  laws  in  operation  in  the  moral  world 
as  fixed  as  in  the  natural  world — and  when  there  are,  uniformly, 
either  direct  or  indirect  interpositions  of  Providence  in  regard  to 
any  existing  institutions,  it  is  not  unsafe  to  infer  from  these  what 
is  the  Divine  will.  It  is  not  unsafe,  for  illustration,  to  argue,  from 
the  uniform  effects  of  intemperance,  in  regard  to  the  will  of  God, 
These  effects  occur  in  every  age  of  the  world,  in  reference  to  every 
class  of  men.  There  are  no  exceptions  in  favour  of  kings  or 
philosophers ;  of  the  inhabitants  of  any  particular  climate  or  re 
gion  of  country ;  of  either  sex,  or  of  any  age.  The  poverty  and 
babbling,  and  redness  of  eyes,  and  disease,  engendered  by  intem 
perance,  may  be  regarded  without  danger  of  error,  as  expressive 
of  the  will  of  God  in  reference  to  that  habit.  They  show  that 
there  has  been  a  violation  of  a  great  law  of  our  nature,  ordained 
for  our  good,  and  that  such  a  violation  must  always  incur  the 
frown  of  the  great  Governor  of  the  world.  The  revelation  of  the 
mind  of  God,  in  such  a  case,  is  not  less  clear  than  were  the  annun 
ciations  of  his  will  on  Sinai. 

"  The  same  is  true  in  regard  to  cities  and  nations.  We  need  be 
in  as  little  danger,  in  general,  in  arguing  from  what  occurs  to 
them,  as  in  the  case  of  an  individual.  There  is  now  no  doubt 
among  men  why  the  old  world  was  destroyed  by  a  flood  ;  why  So 
dom  and  Gomorrah  were  consumed ;  why  Tyre,  Nineveh,  Babylon, 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  93 


and  Jerusalem  were  overthrown.  If  a  certain  course  of  conduct, 
long  pursued  and  in  a  great  variety  of  circumstances,  leads  uni 
formly  to  health,  happiness,  and  property,  we  are  in  little  danger 
of  inferring  that  it  is  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  God.  If  it 
lead  to  poverty  and  tears,  we  are  in  as  little  danger  of  error  in 
inferring  that  it  is  a  violation  of  some  great  law  which  God  has 
ordained  for  the  good  of  man.  If  an  institution  among  men  is 
always  followed  by  certain  results ;  if  we  find  them  in  all  climes, 
and  under  all  forms  of  government,  and  in  every  stage  of  society, 
it  is  not  unsafe  to  draw  an  inference  from  these  facts  on  the  ques 
tion  whether  God  regards  the  institution  as  a  good  one,  and  one 
which  he  designs  shall  be  perpetuated  for  the  good  of  society. 

"  It  would  be  easy  to  make  an  application  of  these  undeniable 
principles  to  the  subject  of  slavery.  The  inquiry  would  be,  whether, 
in  certain  results,  always  found  to  accompany  slavery,  and  now  de 
veloping  themselves  in  our  own  country,  there  are  no  clear  indica 
tions  of  what  is  the  will  of  God." 

We  subscribe  to  the  doctrine  that  God  often  reveals  his  will  con 
cerning  a  thing  by  the  acts  of  his  providence  affecting  it.  But  we 
contend  that  God  has  extended  the  field  of  Christian  vision  by  a 
more  direct  revelation,  and  by  the  gift  of  faith  ;  and  that  the  mind 
which  can  neither  hear  the  revelation,  nor  feel  the  faith,  is  merely 
the  mind  of  a  philosopher,  not  of  a  Christian :  he  may  be  a  be 
liever  in  a  God,  but  not  in  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

The  direction  contained  in  the  foregoing  quotation,  by  which 
we  are  to  discriminate  what  are  the  will  and  law  of  God,  may  be 
considered,  when  presented  by  the  mere  teacher  of  abolition, 
among  the  most  artful,  because  among  the  most  insidious,  speci 
mens  of  abolition  logic.  It  is  artful,  because,  to  the  unschooled, 
it  presents  all  that  may  seem  necessary  in  the  foundation  of  a 
sound  system  of  theology ;  and,  further,  because  every  bias  of  the 
human  heart  is  predisposed  to  receive  it  as  an  entire  platform  of 
doctrine.  It  is  insidious  and  dangerous,  because,  although  the  mind 
acquiesces  in  its  truth,  yet  it  is  false  when  proposed  as  the  lone 
and  full  foundation  of  religious  belief.  On  such  secret  and  hidden 
rocks,  infidelity  has  ever  established  her  lights,  her  beacons  to  the 
benighted  voyager ;  and,  in  their  surrounding  seas,  the  shallops 
of  hell  have  for  ever  been  the  most  successful  wreckers,  in  gather 
ing  up  multitudes  of  the  lost,  to  be  established  as  faithful  subjects 
of  the  kingdom  of  darkness. 

The  religious  fanatical  theorists  of  this  order  of  abolition  writers 


94  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


have  further  only  to  establish  their  doctrine  about  the  "  con 
science,"  " inward  light,"  or  "moral  sense," — that  it  is  a  distinct 
mental  power,  infallibly  teaching  what  is  right,  intuitively  spread 
ing  all  truth  before  them, — and  they  will  then  succeed  to  qualify 
man,  a  being  fit  to  govern  the  universe,  and  successfully  carry  on 
a  war  against  God  ! 

The  man  thus  prepared,  if  an  abolitionist,  reasons:  "My  con 
science  or  moral  sense  teaches  me  infallible  truth ;  therefore,  my 
conscience  is  above  all  law,  or  is  a  '  higher  law'  than  the  law  of 
the  land.  My  conscience,  feelings,  and  sympathies  all  teach  me 
that  slavery  is  wrong.  Thus  I  have  been  educated.  My  conscience 
or  moral  sense  teaches  me  what  are  the  laws  of  God,  without  pos 
sible  mistake;  and  according  to  their  teaching,  .slavery  is  for 
bidden." 

In  short,  he  thinks  so ;  and,  therefore,  it  is  so.  He  "is  wiser 
in  his  own  conceit  than  seven  men  that  can  render  a  reason." 

But  we  proceed  to  notice  how  the  doctrine  of  the  author  most 
distinctly  agrees  with  the  precepts  of  infidelity. 

"  The  deist  derives  his  religion  by  inference  from  what  he  sup 
poses  discoverable  of  the  will  and  attributes  of  God,  from  nature, 
and  the  course  of  the  Divine  government."  Watson  s  Theo.  Inst. 
vol.  ii.  p.  542.  This  learned  theologian  differs  widely  from  Mr. 
Barnes.  When  treating  of  slavery,  Watson  frankly  admits  that 
we  are  indebted  to  direct  revelation  for  our  knowledge  on  the 
subject. 

In  page  556,  he  says — 

"  Government  in  masters,  as  well  as  in  fathers,  is  an  appoint 
ment  of  God,  though  differing  in  circumstances ;  and  it  is  there 
fore  to  be  honoured.  'Let  as  many  servants  as  are  under  the 
yoke,  count  their  own  masters  worthy  of  all  honour;'  a  direction 
which  enjoins  both  respectful  thoughts  and  humility  and  propriety 
of  external  demeanour  towards  them.  Obedience  to  their  com 
mands  in  all  things  lawful  is  next  enforced ;  which  obedience  is  to 
be  grounded  on  principle,  on  l singleness  of  heart  as  unto  Christ;' 
thus  serving  a  master  with  the  same  sincerity,  the  same  desire  to 
do  the  appointed  work  well,  as  is  required  of  us  by  Christ.  This 
service  is  also  to  be  cheerful,  and  not  wrung  out  merely  by  a  sense 
of  duty;  'not  with  eye-service  as  men-pleasers;'  not  having  re 
spect  simply  to  the  approbation  of  the  master,  but  'as  the  servant 
of  Christ,'  making  profession  of  his  religion,  'doing  the  will  of 
God,'  in  this  branch  of  duty,  'from  the  heart,'  with  alacrity  and 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


95 

good  feeling.  The  duties  of  servants,  stated  in  these  brief  pie- 
cepts,  might  easily  be  shown  to  comprehend  every  particular  which 
can  be  justly  required  of  persons  in  this  station;  and  the  whole  is 
enforced  by  a  sanction  which  could  have  no  place  but  in  a  revela 
tion  from  God, — <  Knowing  that  whatsoever  good  thing  any  man 
doeth,  the  same  shall  he  receive  of  the  Lord,  whether  he  be  bond 
or  free.'  JSph.  vi.  5.  In  other  words,  even  the  common  duties  of 
servants,  when  faithfully,  cheerfully,  and  piously  performed,  are 
by  Christianity  made  rewardable  actions :  <  Of  the  Lord  ye  shall 
receive  a  reward.' 

"  The  duties  of  servants  and  masters  are,  however,  strictly  re 
ciprocal.  Hence,  the  apostle  continues  his  injunctions  as  to  the 
right  discharge  of  these  relations,  by  saying,  immediately  after  he 
had  prescribed  the  conduct  of  servants,  'And  ye  masters,  do  the 
same  things  unto  them ;  that  is,  act  towards  them  upon  tie  same 
equitable,  conscientious,  and  benevolent  principles  as  you  exact 
from  them.  He  then  grounds  his  rules,  as  to  masters,  upon  the 
great  and  influential  principle,  '  knowing  that  your  Master  is  in 
heaven;'  that  you  are  under  authority,  and  are  accountable  to  him 
for  your  conduct  to  your  servants.  Thus  masters  are  put  under 
the  eye  of  God,  who  not  only  maintains  their  authority,  when  pro 
perly  exercised,  by  making  their  servants  accountable  for  any 
contempt  of  it,  and  for  every  other  failure  of  duty,  but  holds  the 
master  also  himself  responsible  for  its  just  and  mild  exercise.  A 
solemn  and  religious  aspect  is  thus  at  once  given  to  a  relation 
which  by  many  is  considered  as  one  merely  of  interest." 

"  All  the  distinctions  of  good  and  evil  refer  to  some  principle 
above  ourselves ;  for,  were  there  no  Supreme  Governor  and  Judge 
to  reward  and  punish,  the  very  notions  of  good  and  evil  would 
vanish  away."  Ellis  on  Divine  Things. 

The  qualities  good  and  evil  can  only  exist  in  the  mind  as  they 
are  measured  by  a  supreme  law.  "If  we  deny  the  existence  of  a 
Divine  law  obligatory  on  men,  we  must  deny  that  the  world  is 
under  Divine  government,  for  a  government  without  rule  or  law  is 
a  solecism."  Watson's  Theo.  Inst.  vol.  i.  p.  8. 

Divine  laws  must  be  the  subject  of  revelation.  The  law  of  a 
visible  power  cannot  be  known  without  some  indications,  much  less 
the  will  of  an  invisible  power,  and  that,  too,  of  an  order  of  exist 
ence  so  far  above  our  own  that  even  its  mode  is  beyond  our  com 
prehension.  Very  true,  the  providence  of  God  towards  any  par 
ticular  course  of  conduct  may  be  taken  as  the  revelation  of  his 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


will  thus  far,  but,  by  no  means,  preclude  the  necessity  of  a  more 
direct  revelation,  until  man  shall  be  able  to  boast  that  he  compre 
hends  the  entire  works  of  Jehovah. 

The  difference  between  the  Christian  and  the  mere  theist  is, 
while  the  latter  admits  that  a  revelation  of  the  will  of  God  is  or 
has  been  made  by  significant  actions,  he  contends  that  is  a  suffi 
cient  revelation  of  the  laws  of  God  for  the  guidance  of  man. 
"  They  who  never  heard  of  any  external  revelation,  yet  if  they 
knew  from  the  nature  of  things  what  is  fit  for  them  to  do,  they 
know  all  that  God  can  or  will  require  of  them."  Christianity  as 
Old  as  Creation,  p.  233. 

"  By  employing  our  reason  to  collect  the  will  of  God  from  the 
fund  of  our  nature,  physical  and  moral,  we  may  acquire  not  only 
a  particular  knowledge  of  those  laws,  which  are  deducible  from 
them,  but  a  general  knowledge  of  the  manner  in  which  God  is 
pleased  to  exercise  his  supreme  powers  in  this  system."  Holing- 
broke  s  Works,  vol.  v.  p.  100. 

"But  they  who  believe  the  holy  Scriptures  contain  a  revelation 
of  God's  will,  do  not  deny  that  indications  of  his  will  have  been 
made  by  actions;  but  they  contend  that  they  are  in  themselves 
imperfect  and  insufficient,  and  that  they  were  not  designed  to  su 
persede  a  direct  revelation.  They  also  hold,  that  a  direct  commu 
nication  of  the  Divine  will  was  made  to  the  progenitors  of  the 
human  race,  which  received  additions  at  subsequent  periods,  and 
that  the  whole  was  at  length  embraced  in  the  book  called,  by  way 
of  eminence,  the  Bible."  Watson's  Theo.  Inst.  vol.  i.  p.  10. 

Faith  "  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  the  evidence  of 
things  not  seen."  Ileb.  xi.  1. 

As  an  instance  of  revelation,  we  present  Lev.  xxv.  1,  and  44, 45, 46. 

<fAnd  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  in  Mount  Sinai,  saying: 
Both  thy  bondmen  and  bondmaids,  which  thou  shalt  have,  shall  be 
of  the  heathen  that  are  round  about  you ;  of  them  shall  ye  buy 
bondmen  and  bondmaids." 

"  Moreover,  of  the  children  of  the  strangers  that  do  sojourn 
among  you,  of  them  shall  ye  buy,  and  of  their  families  that  are 
with  you,  which  they  begat  in  your  land  :  and  they  shall  be  your 
possession." 

"  And  ye  shall  take  them  as  an  inheritance  for  your  children 
after  you,  to  inherit  them  for  a  possession,  they  shall  be  your 
bondmen  for  ever ;  but  over  your  brethren,  the  children  of  Israel, 
ye  shall  not  rule  over  one  another  with  rigour." 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  97 

Here  is  direct  revelation,  and  faith  gives  us  evidence  of  the 
truth  of  its  being  of  Divine  origin. 

Mr.  Barnes  proposes,  by  human  reason,  without  the  aid  of  reve 
lation  and  faith,  to  determine  what  is  the  will  of  God  on  the  sub 
ject  of  slavery ;  and  it  suggests  the  inquiry,  How  extensive  must 
be  the  intellectual  power  of  him  who  can  reason  with  God  ?  "  For 
he  is  not  a  man,  as  I  am,  that  I  should  answer  him,  and  we  should 
come  together  in  judgment ;  neither  is  any  daysman  betwixt  us, 
that  might  lay  his  hand  upon  us  both."  Job  ix.  32,  33. 

We  frankly  acknowledge,  that,  in  the  investigation  of  this  sub 
ject,  we  shall  consider  the  Divine  authority  of  those  writings, 
which  are  received  by  Christians  as  a  revelation  of  infallible  truth, 
as  so  established ;  and,  with  all  simplicity  of  mind,  examine  their 
contents,  and  collect  from  them  the  information  they  profess  to 
contain,  and  concerning  which  information  it  had  become  necessary 
that  the  world  should  be  experimentally  instructed. 

But  the  passage  quoted  from  Mr.  Barnes  gives  us  a  stronger 
suspicion  of  his  want  of  orthodoxy  and  Christian  principle  from 
its  connection  with  what  he  says,  page  310 : 

"If  the  religion  of  Christ  allows  such  a  license"  (to  hold  slaves) 
"  from  such  precepts  as  these,  the  New  Testament  would  be  the 
greatest  curse  ever  inflicted  on  our  race." 

The  fact  is,  little  can  be  known  of  God  or  his  law  except  by 
faith  and  revelation.  Beings  whose  mental  powers  are  not  in 
finite  can  never  arrive  at  a  knowledge  of  all  things,  nor  can  we 
know  any  thing  fully,  only  in  proportion  as  we  comprehend  the 
laws  influencing  it.  In  conformity  to  the  present  limited  state  of 
our  knowledge,  we  can  only  say,  that  we  arrive  at  some  little,  by 
three  distinct  means  :  the  senses  open  the  door  to  a  superficial  per 
ception  of  things ;  the  mental  powers  to  their  further  examination  ; 
while  faith  gives  us  a  view  of  the  superintending  control  of  One 
Almighty  God. 

In  the  proportion  our  senses  are  defective,  our  mental  powers 
deficient,  and  our  faith  inactive  or  awry, — our  knowledge  will  be 
scanty.  The  result  of  all  knowledge  is  the  perception  of  truth. 
Under  the  head  of  the  mental  powers,  philosophers  tell  us  our 
knowledge  is  acquired  by  three  methods :  intuition,  demonstration, 
and  analogy.  By  intuition  they  mean  when  the  mind  perceives 
a  certainty  in  a  proposition  where  the  relation  is  obvious,  as  it  is 
obvious  that  the  whole  is  greater  than  a  part ;  and  such  proposi 
tions  they  call  axioms. 


98  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


When  the  relation  of  things  is  not  thus  obvious,  that  is,  when 
the  proposition  involves  the  determination  of  the  relation  between 
two  or  more  things  whose  relations  are  not  intuitively  perceived, 
the  mind  may  sometimes  come  to  a  certainty,  concerning  the  rela 
tion,  by  the  interposition  of  a  chain  of  axioms;  that  is,  of  propo 
sitions  where  the  relations  are  intuitively  perceived.  This  is  called 
demonstration. 

In  all  such  cases,  the  mind  would  perceive  the  relation,  and 
come  to  a  certainty  intuitively,  if  adequately  cultivated  and  en 
larged  ;  or,  in  other  words,  all  propositions  that  now,  to  us,  require 
demonstration,  would,  to  such  a  cultivation,  become  mere  axioms : 
consequently,  now,  where  one  man  sees  a  mere  axiom,  another  re 
quires  demonstration. 

But  the  great  mass  of  our  ideas  are  too  imperfect  or  too  com 
plicated  to  admit  of  intuitive  conclusions  ;  consequently,  as  to  them, 
we  can  never  arrive  at  demonstration.  Here  we  substitute  facts ; 
and  reason,  that,  as  heretofore  one  certain  fact  has  accompanied 
another  certain  fact,  so  it  will  be  hereafter.  This  is  what  the  phi 
losophers  call  analogy.  Analogy  is  thus  founded  on  experience, 
and  is,  therefore,  far  less  perfect  than  intuition  or  demonstration. 
That  gravitation  will  always  continue  is  analogical ;  we  do  not 
know  it  intuitively ;  nor  can  we  demonstrate  it.  Analogical  pro 
positions  are,  therefore,  to  us  mere  probabilities. 

But  our  knowledge  has  cognizance  of  ideas  only.  These  ideas 
we  substitute  for  the  things  they  represent,  in  which  there  is  a 
liability  to  err.  Thus  a  compound  idea  is  an  assemblage  of  the 
properties  of  a  thing,  and  may  be  incomplete  and  inadequate : 
wholly  different  from  any  quality  in  the  thing  itself.  What  is  our 
idea  of  spirit,  colour,  joy  ?  Yet  we  may  conceive  an  intelligence 
so  extended  as  to  admit  that  even  analogical  problems  should  be 
come  intuitive  :  with  God  every  thing  is  intuitively  known.  But 
even  intuitive  propositions  sometimes  reach  beyond  our  compre 
hension.  Example — a  line  of  infinite  length  can  have  no  end  : 
therefore,  the  half  of  an  infinite  line  would  be  a  line  also  of  infinite 
length.  But  all  lines  of  infinite  length  are  of  equal  length  ;  there 
fore,  the  half  of  an  infinite  line  is  equal  to  the  whole.  Such  fal 
lacies  prove  that  human  reason  is  quite  limited  and  liable  to  err  : 
and  hence  the  importance  of  faith  in  God,  in  the  steadfastness  of 
his  laws,  and  the  certainty  of  their  operations  "And  Jesus 
answering  said  unto  them,  have  faith  in  God."  Mark  xi.  22.  "  And 
when  they  were  come,  and  had  gathered  the  church  together,  they 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


99 


rehearsed  all  that  God  had  done  with  them,  and  how  he  had  opened 
the  door  of  faith  unto  the  Gentiles."  Acts  xiv.  27.   "  So,  then,  faith 
cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  God."    Romans 
x.  17.     That  is,  by  revelation.     "Now  faith  is  the  substance  of 
things  hoped  for,  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen."   Heb.  xi.  1. 
"But  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God;  for  he  that 
cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  he  is,  and  that  he  is  the  rewarder 
of  them  that  diligently  seek  him."  Heb.  xi.  6.     "Even  so  faith, 
f  it  hath  not  works,  is  dead."  James  ii.  IT.    "And  he  said,  I  will 
hide  my  face  from  them,  I  will  see  what  their  end  shall  be;  for 
they  are  a  very  froward  generation,  children  in  whom  there  is  no 
faith."  Deut.  xxxii.  20.  To  which  add  Romans  xii.  3. 

These  passages  seem  to  imply  an  unchangeable  reliance  on  faith 
and  revelation  for  all  knowledge  of  God,  his  laws,  and  our  peace 
hereafter;  and  we  do  feel  the  most  heartfelt  regret  to  see  those 
who  claim  to  be  religious  teachers,  laying  the  foundation  for  the 
most  gross  infidelity. 


LESSON  V. 

ON  page  6,  Mr.  Barnes  says — 

"The  work"  (his  own)  "which  is  now  submitted  to  the  public, 
is  limited  to  an  examination  of  the  Scripture  argument  on  the 
subject  of  slavery."  * 

Now,  if  it  shall  appear  that  his  exertion  has  universally  been  to 
gloss  over  the  Scripture,  or  strain  it  into  some  meaning  favour 
able  to  abolition,  and  adverse  to  its  rational  and  obvious  interpre 
tation,  the  mind  will  be  forced  to  the  conclusion,  that  his  real 
object  has  been  to  hide  the  "  Scripture  argument,"  and  to  limit  his 
researches  by  what  he  may  deem  to  be  sound  reason  and  philosophy, 
and  let  it  be  remembered  that  such  has  been  the  constant  practice 
of  every  infidel  writer,  who  has  ever  attempted  to  reconcile  his  own 
peculiar  theories  to  the  teachings  of  the  holy  books. 

"And  Abram  took  Sarai  his  wife,  and  Lot  his  brother's  son, 
and  all  their  substance  that  they  had  gathered,  and  the  souls  that 
they  had  gotten  in  Haran ;  and  they  went  forth  to  go  into  the 
land  of  Canaan;  and  into  the  land  of  Canaan  they  came."  Gren.xu.5. 

"  And  he  entreated  Abram  well  for  her  sake  :  and  he  had  sheep, 
and  he-asses,  and  men-servants  (DH^I  va  abadim,  male  slaves), 
and  maid-servants  (nHSJ?*)  vu  shephahoth,  female  slaves),  and  she 


•L00  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

asses  and  camels."  xii.  16.  "But  Abram  said  unto  Sarai,  Be 
hold  thy  maid  (T|nn9t?  shiphhathek,  female  slave)  is  in  thy  hand  ; 
do  unto  her  as  it  pleaseth  thee.  And  when  Sarai  dealt  hardly  by 
her,  she  fled  from  her  face.  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  found  her 
by  a  fountain  of  water  in  the  wilderness,  by  the  fountain  in  the 
way  to  Shur.  And  he  said,  Hagar,  Sarai's  maid  (finfjfi'  shiph- 
hath,  female  slave),  whence  earnest  thou  and  whither  wilt  thou  go  ? 
And  she  said,  I  flee  from  the  face  of  my  mistress  Sarai ;  and  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  said  unto  her,  Return  to  thy  mistress  and  submit 
thyself  unto  her  hands."  Gen.  xvi.  6-9. 

"  And  God  said  unto  Abraham,  Thou  shalt  keep  my  covenant." 
*  *  *  " This  is  my  covenant."  *  *  *  "  And  he  that  is  eight  days 
old  shall  be  circumcised  among  you,  every  man-child  in  your  gene 
rations,  he  that  is  born  in  the  house,  or  bought  with  money  of  any 
stranger  which  is  not  of  thy  seed.  He  that  is  born  in  thy  house, 
and  he  that  is  bought  with  thy  money  must  needs  be  circumcised ; 
and  my  covenant  shall  be  in  your  flesh  for  an  everlasting  cove 
nant."  aen.  xvii.  9,  10,  12,  13.  "  And  all  the  men  of  his  house, 
born  in  the  house,  and  bought  with  money  of  the  stranger,  were  cir 
cumcised  with  him."  Ver.  27. 

"And   Abimelech   took    sheep   and   oxen,    and   men-servants 

(DHDjn  w*  abadim,  male  slaves),  and  women-servants  (nflS^  vu 
shephhahothjemale  slaves),  and  gave  them  unto  Abraham."   Gen. 

xx.  14. 

"Wherefore  she  said  unto  Abraham,  Cast  out  the  bond-woman, 
and  her  son.  For  the  son  of  this  bond-woman  shall  not  be  heir 
with  my  son,  even  with  Isaac.  And  God  said  unto  Abraham,  let 
it  not  be  grievous  in  thy  sight,  because  of  the  lad,  and  because  of 
thy  bond-woman."  *  *  *  «  And  also  of  the  son  of  the  bond 
woman  I  will  make  a  nation,  because  he  is  of  thy  seed."  Gen. 
xxi.  10,  12,  13. 

"  For  it  is  written  that  Abraham  had  two  sons,  the  one  by  a 
bond-maid,  the  other  by  a  free-woman.  But  he  who  was  of  the 
bond-woman  was  after  the  flesh,  but  he  of  the  free-woman  was  by 
promise ;  nevertheless,  what  saith  the  scripture  ?  Cast  out  the 
bond-woman  and  her  son,  for  the  son  of  the  bond-woman  shall  not 
be  heir  with  the  son  of  the  free-woman."  Gal.  iv.  22,  23,  30. 

"And  he  said,  I  am  Abraham's  servant  (l?^  ebed,  male  slave), 
and  the  Lord  hath  blessed  my  master  greatly, 'and  he  is  become 
great;  and  he  hath  given  him  flocks  and  herds,  and  silver  and 
gold,  and  man-servants  (DnSJf}  va  abadim,  and  male  slaves),  and 


STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 


maid-servants   (hfitj^  vu  shephahoth,  and  female  slaves), 
camels  and  asses."   Gen.  xxiv.  34,  35. 

"  And  the  man  waxed  great,  and  went  forward,  and  grew  until 
he  became  very  great.  For  he  had  possession  of  flocks,  and  pos 
session  of  herds,  and  great  store  of  servants  (71*13^1  va  abudda, 
of  slaves),  and  the  Philistines  envied  him."  Cren.  xxvi.  13,  14. 

"  And  the  man  (Jacob)  increased  exceedingly,  and  he  had  much 
cattle,  and  maid-servants  (nlPTSt?*)  vu  shephahoth,  and  female 
slaves,)  and  men-servants  (DHJ^l  va  aoa^mj  and  male  slaves), 
and  camels  and  asses."  Cf-en.  xxx.  43. 

"  And  I  have  oxen  and  asses,  flocks,  and  men-servants  ("?3#1 
ve  ebed,  and  male  slaves),  and  women-servants  (JinQt^l  ve  shiphha, 
and  female  slaves).  And  I  have  sent  to  tell  my  lord  that  I  may 
find  grace  in  thy  sight."  Gf-en.  xxxii.  5. 

Let  us  now  notice  how  Mr.  Barnes  treats  the  records  here 
quoted.  He  says,  page  70  — 

"  Some  of  the  servants  held  by  the  patriarchs  were  c  bought  with 
money.'  Much  reliance  is  laid  on  this  by  the  advocates  of  slavery, 
in  justifying  the  purchase,  and  consequently,  as  they  seem  to 
reason,  the  sale  of  slaves  now  ;  and  it  is,  therefore,  of  importance, 
to  inquire,  how  far  the  fact  stated  is  a  justification  of  slavery  as 
it  exists  at  present.  But  one  instance  occurs,  in  the  case  of  the 
patriarchs,  where  it  is  said  that  servants  were  'bought  with  money.' 
This  is  the  case  of  Abraham,  Cf-en.  xvii.  12,  13.  <  And  he  that  is 
eight  days  old  shall  be  circumcised  among  you,  every  man-child  in 
your  generations  ;  he  that  is  born  in  the  house,  or  bought  ivith 
money  of  any  stranger,  which  is  not  of  thy  seed  ;  he  that  is  born 
in  thy  house,  and  Tie  that  is  bought  with  thy  money,  must  needs  be 
circumcised.'  Compare  verses  23,  27.  This  is  the  only  instance 
in  which  there  is  mention  of  the  fact  that  any  one  of  the  patri 
archs  had  persons  in  their  employment  who  were  bought  with 
money.  The  only  other  case  which  occurs  at  that*  period  of  the 
world  is  that  of  the  sale  of  Joseph,  first  to  the  Ishmaelites,  and 
then  to  the  Egyptians  —  a  case  which,  it  is  believed,  has  too  close 
a  resemblance  to  slavery  as  it  exists  in  our  own  country,  ever  to 
be  referred  to  with  much  satisfaction  by  the  advocates  of  the  sys 
tem.  In  the  case,  moreover,  of  Abraham,  it  should  be  remem 
bered  that  it  is  the  record  of  a  mere  fact.  There  is  no  command 
to  buy  servants  or  to  sell  them,  or  to  hold  them  as  property  —  any 
more  than  there  was  a  command  to  the  brethren  of  Joseph  to  enter 
into  a  negotiation  for  the  sale  of  their  brother.  Nor  is  there  any 


103  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

approbation  expressed  of  the  fact  that  they  were  bought ;  unless 
the  command  given  to  Abraham  to  affix  to  them  the  seal  of  the 
covenant,  and  to  recognise  them  as  brethren  in  the  faith  which  he 
held,  should  be  construed  as  such  evidence  of  approval. 

"  The  inquiry  then  presents  itself,  whether  the  fact  that  they 
were  bought  determines  any  thing  with  certainty  in  regard  to  the 
nature  of  the  servitude,  or  to  the  propriety  of  slavery  as  practised 
now.  The  Hebrew,  in  the  passages  referred  to  in  Genesis,  is  '  the 
born  in  thy  house,  and  the  purchase  of  silver,'  FjCJJVOpP — mi 
Jcnath  Jceseph — not  incorrectly  rendered,  '  those  bought  with 
money.'  The  verb  j"0p  kdnd,  from  which  the  noun  here  is  de 
rived,  and  which  is  commonly  used  in  the  Scriptures  when  the 
purchase  of  slaves  is  referred  to,  means  to  set  upright  or  erect,  to 
found  or  create.  Gf-en.  xiv.  19,  22.  Dent,  xxxii.  6  ;  to  get  for  oneself, 
to  gain  or  acquire.  Prov.  iv.  7,  xv.  32  ;  to  obtain,  Gf-en.  iv.  1 ;  and  to 
buy,  or  purchase,  Gf-en.  xxv.  10 ;  xlvii.  22.  In  this  latter  sense  it 
is  often  used,  and  with  the  same  latitude  of  signification  as  the 
word  buy  or  purchase  is  with  us.  It  is  most  commonly  rendered 
by  the  words  buy  and  purchase  in  the  Scriptures.  See  Gf-en.  xxv.  10 ; 
xlvii.  22;  xlix.  30;  1.13;  Josh.  xxiv.  32;  2  Sam.  xii.  3;  Ps. 
Ixxviii.  54  ;  Deut.  xxxii.  6 ;  Lev.  xxvii.  24,  and  very  often  else 
where.  It  is  applied  to  the  purchase  of  fields,  of  cattle,  of  men, 
and  of  every  thing  which  was  or  could  be  regarded  as  pro 
perty.  As  there  is  express  mention  of  silver  or  money  in  the 
passage  before  us  respecting  the  servants  of  Abraham,  there  is 
no  doubt  that  the  expression  means  that  he  paid  a  price  for  a  part 
of  his  servants.  A  part  of  them  'were  born  in  his  house;'  a  part 
had  been  'bought  with  money'  from  '  strangers,'  or  were  foreigners. 

"But  still,  this  use  of  the  word  in  itself  determines  nothing  in 
regard  to  the  tenure  by  which  they  were  held,  or  the  nature  of  the 
servitude  to  which  they  were  subjected.  It  does  not  prove  that 
they  were  regarded  as  property  in  the  sense  in  which  a  slave  is 
now  regarded  as  a  chattel ;  nor  does  it  demonstrate  that  the  one 
who  was  bought  ceased  to  be  regarded  altogether  as  a  man;  or  that 
it  was  regarded  as  right  to  sell  him  again.  The  fact  that  he  was 
to  be  circumcised  as  one  of  the  family  of  Abraham,  certainly  does 
not  look  as  if  he  ceased  to  be  regarded  as  a  man. 

"  The  word  rendered  buy  or  purchase  in  the  Scriptures,  is  applied 
to  so  many  kinds  of  purchases,  that  no  safe  argument  can  be 
founded  on  its  use  in  regard  to  the  kind  of  servitude  which  existed 
in  the  tim<>  of  Abraham.  A  reference  to  a  few  cases  where  this 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


word  is  used,  will  show  that  nothing  is  determined  by  it  respecting 
the  tenure  by  which  the  thing  purchased  was  'held.  (1.)  It  is  used 
in  the  common  sense  of  the  word  purchase  as  applied  to  inanimate 
things,  where  the  property  would  be  absolute.  &en.  xlii.  2,  7  ; 
xliii.  20  ;  xlvii.  19  ;  xxx.  19.  (2.)  It  is  applied  to  the  purchase  of 
cattle,  where  the  property  may  be  supposed  to  be  as  absolute.  See 
Gen.  xlvi.  22,  24  ;  iv.  20  ;  Job  xxxvi.  33  ;  Deut.  iii.  19  ;  and  often, 
(3.)  God  is  represented  as  having  bought  his  people  ;  that  is,  as 
having  ransomed  them  with  a  price,  or  purchased  them  to  himself. 
Deut.  xxxii.  6  :  <  Is  he  not  thy  Father  that  hath  bought  thee  ?' 
Tp.fJ  —  kdnekhd,  thy  purchaser.  Exod.  xv.  16  :  *  By  the  greatness  of 
thine  arm  they  shall  be  still  as  a  stone,  till  thy  people  pass  over  ; 
till  the  people  pass  over  which  thou  hast  purchased,'  fiOjJ,  Mnithd. 
See  Ps.  Ixxiv.  2.  Compare  Isa.  xliii.  3  :  «  I  gave  Egypt  for  thy  ran 
som,  Ethiopia  and  Seba  for  thee.'  But  though  the  word  purchase 
is  used  in  relation  to  the  redemption  of  the  people  of  God,  the  very 
word  which  is  used  respecting  the  servants  of  Abraham,  no  one 
will  maintain  that  they  were  held  as  slaves,  or  regarded  as  property. 
Who  can  tell  but  what  Abraham  purchased  his  servants  in  some 
such  way,  by  redeeming  them  from  galling  captivity  ?  May  they 
not  have  been  prisoners  in  war,  to  whom  he  did  an  inestimable 
service  in  rescuing  them  from  a  condition  of  grievous  and  hopeless 
bondage  ?  May  they  not  have  been  slaves  in  the  strict  and  proper 
sense,  and  may  not  his  act  of  purchasing  them  have  been,  in  fact, 
a  species  of  emancipation  in  a  way  similar  to  that  in  which  God 
emancipates  his  people  from  the  galling  servitude  of  sin  ?  The 
mere  act  of  paying  a  price  for  them  no  more  implies  that  he  con 
tinued  to  hold  them  as  slaves,  than  it  does  now  when  a  man  pur 
chases  his  wife  or  child  who  have  been  held  as  slaves,  or  than  the 
fact  that  God  has  redeemed  his  people  by  a  price,  implies  that  he 
regards  them  as  slaves.  (4.)  Among  the  Hebrews  a  man  might 
sell  himself,  and  this  transaction  on  the  part  of  him  to  whom  he 
sold  himself  would  be  represented  by  the  word  bought.  Thus,  in 
Lev.  xxv.  47,  48  :  'And  if  a  sojourner  or  a  stranger  wax  rich  by 
thee,  and  thy  brother  that  dwelleth  by  him  wax  poor,  and  sell  him 
self  unto  the  stranger  or  sojourner  by  thee,  or  to  the  stock  of  the 
stranger's  family,  after  that  he  is  sold,  he  may  be  redeemed 
again.'  This  transaction  is  represented  as  a  purchase.  Ver.  50  : 
*  And  he  shall  reckon  with  him  that  bought  him,  (Ileb.  his  pur- 
chaser,  ^"l^p  Jconaihu),  from  the  year  that  he  was  sold  unto  the 
year  of  jubilee,'  £c.  This  was  a  mere  purchase  of  time  or  service. 


104  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


It  gave  no  right  to  sell  the  man  again,  or  to  retain  him  in  any 
event  beyond  a  certain  period,  or  to  retain  him  at  all,  if  his  friends 
chose  to  interpose  and  redeem  him.  It  gave  no  right  of  property 
in  the  man,  any  more  than  the  purchase  of  the  unexpired  time  of 
an  apprentice,  or  the  'purchase'  of  the  poor  in  the  State  of  Con 
necticut  does.  In  no  proper  sense  of  the  word  could  this  be  called 
slavery.  (5.)  The  word  buy  or  purchase  was  sometimes  applied  to 
the  manner  in  which  a  wife  was  procured.  Thus  Boaz  is  repre 
sented  as  saying  that  he  had  bought  lluth.  '  Moreover,  Ruth  the 
Moabitess,  the  wife  of  Mahlon,  have  I  purchased  ('fiOp  kdnithi) 
to  be  «ny  wife.'  Here  the  word  applied  to  the  manner  in  which 
Abraham  became  possessed  of  his  servants,  is  applied  to  the  man 
ner  in  which  a  wife  was  procured.  So  Hosea  says,  (ch.  iii.  2,)  4  So 
I  bought  her  to  me  (another  word,  however,  being  used  in  the  He 
brew,  n"O  Mrd)  for  fifteen  pieces  of  silver,  and  for  an  homer  of 
barley,  and  an  half  homer  of  barley.'  Jacob  purchased  his  wives, 
Leah  and  Rachel,  not  indeed  by  the  payment  of  money,  but  by 
labour.  Gf-en.  xxix.  15—23.  That  the  practice  of  purchasing  a  wife, 
or  paying  a  dowry  for  her,  was  common,  is  apparent  from  Exod. 
xxii.  17  ;  1  Sam.  xviii.  25.  Compare  Judg.  i.  12, 13.  Yet  it  will 
not  be  maintained  that  the  wife  among  the  Hebrews,  was  in  any 
proper  sense  a  slave,  or  that  she  was  regarded  as  subject  to  the 
laws  which  regulate  property,  or  that  the  husband  had  a  right  to 
sell  her  again.  In  a  large  sense,  indeed,  she  was  regarded,  as  the 
conductors  of  the  Princeton  Repertory  (1836,  p.  293)  allege,  as 
the  wife  is  now,  as  the  property  of  her  husband ;  that  is,  she  was 
his  to  the  exclusion  of  the  claim  of  any  other  man ;  but  she  was  his 
as  his  wife,  not  as  his  slave.  (6.)  The  word  '  bought'  occurs  in  a 
transaction  between  Joseph  and  the  people  of  Egypt  in  such  a  way 
as  farther  to  explain  its  meaning.  When,  during  the  famine,  the 
money  of  the  Egyptians  had  failed,  and  Joseph  had  purchased  all 
the  land,  the  people  proposed  to  become  his  servants.  When  the 
contract  was  closed,  Joseph  said  to  them,  '  Behold,  I  have  bought 

you — TPPfJ  kdnithi — this  day,  and  your  land  for  Pharaoh.' 
Gren.  xlvii.  23.  The  nature  of  this  contract  is  immediately  speci 
fied.  They  were  to  be  regarded  as  labouring  for  Pharaoh.  The 
land  belonged  to  him,  and  Joseph  furnished  the  people  seed,  or 
4  stocked  the  land,'  and  they  were  to  cultivate  it  on  shares  for 
Pharaoh.  The  fifth  part  was  to  be  his,  and  the  other  four  parts 
were  to  be  theirs.  There  was  a  claim  on  them  for  labour,  but  it 
does  not  appear  that  the  claim  extended  farther.  No  farmers  who 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  105 

now  work  land  on  shares  would  be  willing  to  have  their  condition 
described  as  one  of  slavery. 

"The  conclusion  which  we  reach  from  this  examination  of  the 
words  buy  and  bought  as  applied  to  the  case  of  Abraham  is,  that 
the  use  of  the  word  determines  nothing  in  regard  to  the  tenure  by 
which  his  servants  were  held.  They  may  have  been  purchased 
from  those  who  had  taken  them  as  captives  in  war,  and  the  pur 
chase  may  have  been  regarded  by  themselves  as  a  species  of  re 
demption,  or  a  most  desirable  rescue  from  the  fate  which  usually 
attends  such  captives — perchance  from  death.  The  property  which 
it  was  understood  that  he  had  in  them  may  have  been  merely  pro 
perty  in  their  time,  and  not  in  their  persons ;  or  the  purchase 
may  have  amounted  in  fact  to  every  thing  that  is  desirable  in 
emancipation  ;  and,  from  any  thing  implied  in  the  word,  their  sub 
sequent  service  in  the  family  of  Abraham  may  have  been  entirely 
voluntary.  It  is  a  very  material  circumstance,  also,  that  there  is 
not  the  slightest  evidence  that  either  Abraham,  Isaac,  or  Jacob  ever 
sold  a  slave,  or  offered  one  for  sale,  or  regarded  them  as  liable  to  be 
sold.  There  is  no  evidence  that  their  servants  even  descended  as 
a  part  of  an  inheritance  from  father  to  son.  So  far,  indeed,  as  the 
accounts  in  the  Scriptures  go,  it  would  be  impossible  to  prove  that 
they  would  not  have  been  at  liberty  at  any  time  to  leave  their 
masters,  if  they  had  chosen  to  do  so.  The  passage,  therefore, 
which  says  that  Abraham  had  'servants  bought  with  money,'  can 
not  be  adduced  to  justify  slavery  as  it  exists  now — even  if  this 
were  all  that  we  know  about  it.  But  (4.)  servitude  in  the  da^s  of 
Abraham  must  have  existed  in  a  very  mild  form,  and  have,  had 
features  which  slavery  by  no  means  has  now.  Almost  the  only 
transaction  which  is  mentioned  in  regard  to  the  servants  of  Abra 
ham,  is  one  which  could  never  occur  in  the  slave-holding  parts  of 
our  country.  A  marauding  expedition  of  petty  kings  came  from 
the  north  and  east,  and  laid  waste  the  country  around  the  vale 
of  Siddim,  near  to  which  Abraham  lived,  and,  among  other  spoils 
of  battle,  they  carried  away  Lot  and  his  possessions.  Abraham, 
it  is  said,  then  <  armed  his  trained  servants,  born  in  his  own  house, 
three  hundred  and  eighteen,  and  pursued  them  unto  Dan,'  and 
rescued  the  family  of  Lot  and  his  goods.  G-en.  xiv.  This  narra 
tive  is  one  that  must  for  ever  show  that  servitude,  as  it  existed  in 
the  family  of  Abraham,  was  a  very  different  thing  from  what  it  is 
in  the  United  States.  The  number  was  large,  and  it  does  not  ap 
pear  that  any  persons  but  his  servants  accompanied  Abraham. 


106  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


They  all  were  armed.  They  were  led  off  on  a  distant  expedition, 
where  there  could  have  been  no  power  in  Abraham  to  preserve  his 
life,  if  they  had  chosen  to  rise  up  against  him,  and  no  power  to 
recover. them,  if  they  had  chosen  to  set  themselves  free.  Yet  he 
felt  himself  entirely  safe  when  accompanied  with  this  band  of 
armed  men,  and  when  far  away  from  his  family  and  his  home. 
What  must  have  been  the  nature  of  servitude,  where  the  master 
was  willing  to  arm  such  a  company,  to  put  himself  entirely  at 
their  disposal,  and  lead  them  off  to  a  distant  land  ? 

"  Compare  this  with  the  condition  of  things  in  the  United  States. 
Here,  it  is  regarded  as  essential  to  the  security  of  the  life  of  the 
master  that  slaves  shall  never  be  intrusted  with  arms.  i  A  slave  is 
not  allowed  to  keep  or  carry  a  weapon.'*  'He  cannot  go  from 
the  tenement  of  his  master,  or  other  person  with  whom  he  lives, 
without  a  pass,  or  something  to  show  that  he  is  proceeding  by 
authority  from  his  master,  employer,  or  overseer.'f  'For  keeping 
or  carrying  a  gun,  or  powder,  or  shot,  or  club,  or  other  weapon 
whatsoever,  offensive  or  defensive,  a  slave  incurs,  for  each  offence, 
thirty-nine  lashes,  by  order  of  a  justice  of  the  peace  ;'J  and  in 
North  Carolina  and  Tennessee,  twenty  lashes,  by  the  nearest  con 
stable,  without  a  conviction  by  the  justice. §  Here,  there  is  every 
precaution  from  laws,  and  from  the  dread  of  the  most  fearful  kind 
of  punishment,  against  the  escape  of  slaves.  Here,  there  is  a  con 
stant  apprehension  that  they  may  rise  against  their  masters,  and 
every  security  is  taken  against  their  organization  and  combination. 
HeJfe,  there  is  probably  not  a  single  master  who  would,  if  he 
owned  three  hundred  slaves,  dare  to  put  arms  in  their  hands,  and 
lead  them  off  on  an  expedition  against  a  foe.  If  the  uniform  pre 
cautions  and  care  at  the  South  against  arming  the  slaves,  or  al 
lowing  them  to  become  acquainted  with  their  own  strength,  be  any 
expression  of  the  nature  of  the  system,  slavery  in  the  United 
States  is  a  very  different  thing  from  servitude  in  the  time  of 
Abraham ;  and  it  does  not  prove  that  in  the  species  of  servitude 
existing  here  it  is  right  to  refer  to  the  case  of  Abraham,  and  to 
say  that  it  is  'a  good  patriarchal  system.'  Let  the  cases  be  made 
parallel  before  the  names  of  the  patriarchs  are  called  in  to  justify 
the  system.  But — 

*  Rev.  Cod.  Virg.  vol.  i.  p.  453,  sections  83,  84. 

f  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  422,  section  6.     See  Paulding  on  Slavery,  p.  146. 

J  2  Litt.  and  Smi.  1150;  2  Missouri  Laws,  741,  section  4. 

g  Haywood's  Manual,  521 ;  Stroud  on  the  Laws  relating  to  Slavery,  p.  102. 


ST  DDI  ES   ON  SLAVERY.  107 

"  (5.)  What  real  support  would  it  furnish  to  the  system,  even  if  it 
were  true  that  the  cases  were  wholly  parallel  ?  How  far  would  it 
go  to  demonstrate  that  God  regards  it  as  a  good  system,  and  one 
that  is  to  be  perpetuated,  in  order  that  society  may  reach  its 
highest  possible  elevation  ?  Who  would  undertake  to  vindicate  all 
the  conduct  of  the  patriarchs,  or  to  maintain  that  all  which  they 
practised  was  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  God?  They  practised 
concubinage  and  polygamy.  Is  it  therefore  certain  that  this  was 
the  highest  and  purest  state  of  society,  and  that  it  was  a  state 
which  God  designed  should  be  perpetuated?  Abraham  and  Isaac 
were  guilty  of  falsehood  and  deception,  (G-en.  xx.  2,  seq.;  xxvi.  7;) 
Jacob  secured  the  birthright  by  a  collusive  fraud  between  him  and 
his  mother,  (G-en.  xxvii.)  and  obtained  no  small  part  of  his  pro 
perty  by  cunning,  (G-en.  xxx.  36-43,)  and  Noah  was  drunk  with 
wine,  (G-en.  ix.  21 ;)  and  these  things  are  recorded  merely  as  facts, 
without  any  decided  expression  of  disapprobation ;  but  is  it  there 
fore  to  be  inferred  that  they  had  the  approbation  of  God,  and  that 
they  are  to  be  practised  still,  in  order  to  secure  the  highest  condi 
tion  of  society  ? 

"Take  the  single  case  of  polygamy.  Admitting  that  the  patri 
archs  held  slaves,  the  argument  in  favour  of  polygamy,  from  their 
conduct,  would  be,  in  all  its  main  features,  the  same  as  that  which 
I  suggested,  in  the  commencement  of  this  chapter,  as  employed  in 
favour  of  slavery.  The  argument  would  be  this : — That  they  were 
good  men,  the  'friends  of  God,'  and  that  what  such  men  practised 
freely  cannot  be  wrong ;  that  God  permitted  this  ;  that  he  nowhere 
forbade  it ;  that  he  did  not  record  his  disapprobation  of  the  prac 
tice  ;  and  that  whatever  God  permitted  in  such  circumstances, 
without  expressing  his  disapprobation,  must  be  regarded  as  in  it 
self  a  good  thing,  and  as  desirable  to  be  perpetuated,  in  order 
that  society  may  reach  the  highest  point  of  elevation.  It  is  per 
fectly  clear  that,  so  far  as  the  conduct  of  the  patriarchs  goes,  it 
would  be  just  as  easy  to  construct  an  argument  in  favour  of  po 
lygamy  as  in  favour  of  slavery — even  on  the  supposition  that 
slavery  existed  then  essentially  as  it  does  now.  But  it  is  not  pro 
bable  that  polygamy  would  be  defended  now  as  a  good  institution, 
and  as  one  that  has  the  approbation  of  God,  even  by  those  who 
defend  the  '  domestic  institutions  of  the  South.'  The  truth  is,  that 
the  patriarchs  were  good  men  in  their  generation,  and,  considering 
their  circumstances,  were  men  eminent  for  piety.  But  they  were 
imperfect  men  ;  they  lived  in  the  infancy  of  the  world ;  they  had 


108  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

comparatively  little  light  on  the  subjects  of  morals  and  religion ; 
and  it  is  a  very  feeble  argument  which  maintains  that  a  thing  is 
right,  because  any  one  or  all  of  the  patriarchs  practised  it. 

"  But  after  all,  what  real  sanction  did  God  ever  give  either  to 
polygamy  or  to  servitude,  as  it  was  practised  in  the  time  of  the 
patriarchs  ?  Did  he  command  either  ?  Did  he  ever  express  ap 
probation  of  either  ?  Is  there  an  instance  in  which  either  is  men 
tioned  with  a  sentiment  of  approval  ?  The  mere  record  of  actual 
occurrences,  even  if  there  is  no  declared  disapprobation  of  them, 
proves  nothing  as  to  the  Divine  estimate  of  what  is  recorded. 
There  is  a  record  of  the  '  sale  of  Joseph  into  servitude,  first  to 
the  Ishmaelites,  and  then  to  Potiphar.  There  is  no  expression  of 
disapprobation.  There  is  no  exclamation  of  surprise  or  astonish 
ment,  as  if  a  deed  of  enormous  wickedness  were  done,  when 
brothers  sold  their  own  brother  into  hopeless  captivity.  This  was 
done  also  by  those  who  were  subsequently  reckoned  among  the 
4  patriarchs,'  and  some  of  whom  at  the  time  were  probably  pious 
men.  Will  it  be  inferred  that  God  approved  this  transaction  ;  that 
he  meant  to  smile  on  the  act,  when  brothers  sell  their  own  brothers 
into  hopeless  bondage  ?  Will  this  record  be  adduced  to  justify 
kidnapping,  or  the  acts  of  parents  in  barbarous  lands,  who,  for 
getful  of  all  the  laws  of  their  nature,  sell  their  own  children  ? 
Will  the  record  that  the  Ishmaelites  took  the  youthful  Joseph  into 
a  distant  land,  and  sold  him  there  as  a  slave,  be  referred  to  as 
furnishing  evidence  that  God  approves  the  conduct  of  those  who 
kidnap  the  unoffending  inhabitants  of  Africa,  or  buy  them  there, 
and  carry  them  across  the  deep,  to  be  sold  into  hopeless  bondage  ! 
Why  then  should  the  fact  that  there  is  a  record  that  the  patriarchs 
held  servants,  or  bought  them,  without  any  expressed  disapproba 
tion  of  the  deed,  be  adduced  as  evidence  that  God  regards  slavery 
as  a  good  institution,  and  intends  that  it  shall  be  perpetuated  under 
the  influence  of  his  religion,  as  conducing  to  the  highest  good  of 
society  ?  The  truth  is,  that  the  mere  record  of  a  fact,  even  with 
out  any  sentiment  of  approbation  or  disapprobation,  is  no  evidence 
of  the  views  of  him  who  makes  it.  Are  we  to  infer  that  Hero 
dotus  approved  of  all  that  he  saw  or  heard  of  in  his  travels,  and 
of  which  he  made  a  record  ?  Are  we  to  suppose  that  Tacitus  and 
Livy  approved  of  all  the  deeds  the  memory  of  which  they  have 
transmitted  for  the  instruction  of  future  ages  ?  Are  we  to  main 
tain  that  Gibbon  and  Hume  believed  that  all  which  they  have  re 
corded  was  adapted  to  promote  the  good  of  mankind  ?  Shall  the 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  109 

biographer  of  Nero,  and  Caligula,  and  Richard  III.,  and  Alex 
ander  VI.,  and  Caesar  Borgia  be  held  responsible  for  approving 
of  all  that  these  men  did,  or  of  commending  their  example  to  the 
imitation  of  mankind  ?  Sad  would  be  the  office  of  an  historian 
were  he  to  be  thus  judged.  Why  then  shall  we  infer  that  Grod 
approved  of  all  that  the  patriarchs  did,  even  when  there  is  no 
formal  approbation  expressed  ;  or  infer,  because  such  transactions 
have  been  recorded,  that  therefore  they  are  right  in  his  sight  ?" 

Does  the  mind  hesitate  as  to  the  design  of  this  laboured  and 
lengthy  argument  ?  That  its  object  is  to  do  away,  to  destroy  the 
scriptural  force  of  the  facts  stated  in  these  records  ?  Does  not 
this  argument  substantially  deny  that  Abraham  had  slaves  bought 
with  money?  And  eren  if  he  did  have  them,  then  that  it  was 
just  as  wicked  at  that  time  as  he  thinks  it  to  be  now  ?  Or,  if  he 
shall  thus  far  fail,  then  to  bring  down  the  characters  of  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob  to  a  level  with  Nero,  Caligula,  Richard  III.,  and 
Caesar  Borgia  ?  And  the  holy  books  themselves  to  the  standard 
of  Herodotus,  Tacitus,  and  Livy ;  and  inure  our  mind  to  compare 
them  with  the  writings  of  Hume  and  Gibbon  ? 

The  writer  who  lessens  our  veneration  for  the  characters  of  the 
ancient  worshippers  of  Jehovah  ;  who,  as  by  a  system  of  special 
pleading,  attempts  to  overspread  the  simple  announcements  of  the 
holy  books  with  doubt  and  uncertainty,  however  conscientious  he 
may  be  in  these  labours  of  his  hand,  while  he  assumes  a  most 
awful  responsibility  to  God,  must  ever  call  down  upon  himself  the 
universal  and  determined  opposition  of  the  intelligent  and  good 
among  men. 

The  more  secret,  the  more  adroit  the  application  of  the  poison, 
the  more  intensely  wicked  is  the  hand  that  presents  it. 


LESSON  VI. 

MR.  BARNES  has  devoted  twenty-four  pages  of  his  book  to  the 
slavery  of  the  Hebrews  in  Egypt,  wherein  we  find  no  instance  that 
his  test  is  applied  with  either  fairness  of  deduction  or  logical  accu 
racy.  Indeed,  so  far  as  our  limited  capacity  can  trace  his  applica 
tion  to  the  testy  he  has  made  but  two  points : 

I.  After  repeated  judgments  upon  the  Egyptians,  for  hesitating 
to  set  the  Hebrews  free,  God,  in  his  providence,  effected  their 


110  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


deliverance  from  slavery.  Therefore,  we  are  to  infer  the  indigna 
tion  of  God  against  the  institution  of  slavery.  What  were  the  facts 
of  the  case  ?  On  account  of  their  sins  rendering  them  unfit  for 
the  blessings  promised  their  fathers,  God  imposed  on  them  slavery 
four  hundred  years, — at  the  expiration  of  which  time  he  delivered 
them  from  it.  When  a  free  negro  becomes  a  public  nuisance,  the 
court  will  give  judgment  that  he  shall  be  sold  to  be  a  slave  five 
years.  The  term  having  expired,  if  the  purchaser  holds  on,  and 
refuses  to  let  him  go,  the  same  court  will  interfere,  set  him  free, 
and  impose  heavy  penalties  on  the  master.  Does  the  case  show 
that  the  court  feels  indignation  against  the  institution  of  slavery? 
We  think  it  proves  exactly  the  opposite ! 

If  the  four  hundred  years  of  slavery  operated  to  fit  the  Hebrews 
for  the  reception  of  the  blessing ;  if  the  five  years  of  slavery  re-fitted 
the  negro  for  the  rational  enjoyment  of  liberty,  we  think  the  pro 
vidence  of  God  places  the  institution  of  slavery  in  a  valuable  point 
of  ligfct. 

II.  In  this  review  of  the  slavery  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt,  Mr. 
Barnes  has  noticed  the  fact  of  their  rapid  increase,  to  the  extent 
of  their  becoming  dangerous  to  the  Egyptian  government ;  and  he 
has  compared  it  with  the  more  rapid  increase  of  the  slaves  over 
the  whites  in  the  Slave  States ;  and  suggests  a  similar  danger  to 
the  government  of  the  United  States, — adding,  that  such  increase 
"  can  be  arrested  by  nothing  but  emancipation."  Now  all  this 
may  be  true;  but  in  what  light  does  it  show  forth  the  institution  of 
slavery  ?  Does  Mr.  Barnes  really  mean  to  say,  what  is  the  fact, 
that  the  condition  of  slavery  is  so  well  adapted  to  the  negro  race, 
that,  by  it,  their  comforts,  peace  of  mind,  and  general  happiness 
are  made  so  certain  and  well-secured  to  them,  that  they  increase 
rapidly  ?  And  that,  as  they  are  a  race  of  people  whom  we,  do  not 
desire  to  bear  rule  over  us,  or  become  more  numerous  than  they 
now  are,  it  would  be  good  policy,  and  he  desires,  to  set  them  free, 
in  order  that  they  may  be  deprived  of  their  present  comforts, 
peace  of  mind,  and  happiness,  with  the  view  to  lessen  their  increase, 
and  waste  them  away  ?  If  such  really  be  his  view,  we  may  regard 
it  as  an  extraordinary  instance  of  his  Christian  counsel,  and  form 
some  idea  of  what  he  would  be  as  a  slave-holder.  But  the  same 
increase  of  the  slaves  happened  in  Egypt  in  a  different  age,  and  in 
reference  to  a  different  class  of  men ;  nor  could  any  exertion  cor 
rect  it.  We  may  apply  the  test,  and  safely  infer,  THAT  GOD 

SMILES  ON  THE  INSTITUTION  OF  SLAVERY. 


STUDiES    ON    SLAVERY.  -QJ 

There  is,  in  this  chapter  on  the  slavery  of  the  Hebrews,  an  allu 
sion  made  to  the  States  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky,  (see  page  102  ;)  the 
one  represented  as  "adorned  with  smiling  villages,  and  cottages 
and  churches,  and  the  aspect  of  neatness,  thrift,  and  order;"  and 
that  the  other  wears  "the  aspect  of  ignorance,  irreligion,  neglect 
and  desolation;"  and  that  the  reason  of  the  difference  is,  because 
'  God  smiles  upon  the  free  State,  and  frowns  upon  the  one  where 
slavery  exists." 

We  do  not  deem  it  necessary  to  question  or  even  examine  the 
correctness  of  the  view  of  Kentucky,  as  presented  to  us  by  Mr. 
Barnes :  so  far  as  the  argument  is  concerned,  we  will  take  it  as 
established.  If  the  institution  of  slavery  is  of  Divine  origin,  or  if 
we  are  to  form  a  notion  of  the  will  of  God  respecting  it  from  his 
providences  affecting  the  institution,  we  must  keep  our  eye  upon 
the  subject  of  slavery,  not  upon  those  otherwise  conditioned.  We 
must  look  to  the  slave  in  Kentucky,  and  compare  his  conditions 
there  with  his  conditions  in  a  state  of  freedom ;  and  Mr.  Barnes 
has  furnished  us  with  data,  proving  that  in  Kentucky  the  slaves 
are  in  a  rapid  state  of  propagation  and  increase. 

Page  95,  he  says— "The  whites  were  to  the  slaves— 

In  1790.  In  1840. 

North  Carolina,    2.80  to  1  1.97  to  1 

South  Carolina,    1.31  "  1  79  "  1 

Georgia,  1.76  "  1  1.44  "  1 

Tennessee,          13.35  "  1  3.49  «  l 

Kentucky,  5.16  "  1  3.23  "  1 

From  this  it  is  apparent  that,  in  spite  of  all  the  oppressions  and 
cruelties  of  slavery,  of  all  the  sales  that  are  effected,  of  all  the 
removals  to  Liberia,  and  of  all  the  removals  by  the  escape  of 
the  slaves,  there  is  a  regular  gain  of  the  slave  population  over  the 
free  in  the  slave-holding  States.     No  oppression  prevents  it  here 
more  than  it  did  in  Egypt,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  whatever 
that,  unless  slavery  shall  be  arrested  in  some  way,  the  increase  is 
so  certain  that  the  period  is  not  far  distant  when,  in  all  the  Slave 
States,  the  free  whites  will  be  far  in  the  minority.     At  the  first 
census,  taken  in  1790,  in  every  Slave  State  there  was  a  very  large 
majority  of  whites.     At  the  last  census,  in  1840,  the  slaves  out- 
numbered  the  whites  in  South  Carolina,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana, 
The  tendency  of  this,  from  causes  which  it  would  be  easy  to  state, 
can  be  arrested  by  nothing  but  emancipation." 

But  Mr.  Barnes  does  not  state  what  those  causes  are  ;  and  will 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

he  acknowledge  that  they  really  are  what  we  have  before  stated  ? 
Sc  far  as  these  facts  teach  any  thing,  it  is  that  God  smiles  on  the 
institution  of  slavery.  Let  it  be  true,  as  Mr.  Barnes  says  it  is, 
that  Ohio  exhibits  a  state  of  prosperity,  and  Kentucky  a  state  of 
"  desolation" — the  legitimate  deduction  is,  that  those,  having  the 
direction  and  government  of  affairs  in  Ohio  are  wiser  and  more 
intelligent  than  those  of  the  same  class  in  Kentucky.  We  shall 
leave  all  further  view  of  the  matter  to  Mr.  Barnes  and  the  people 
of  Kentucky. 

The  four  hundred  years  of  slavery  in  Egypt  were  not  a  sentence 
on  the  Hebrews  for  the  especial  benefit  of  the  Egyptians,  but  for 
that  of  the  Hebrews  themselves.  The  court  did  not  sentence  the 
free  negro,  who  had  become  a  nuisance,  to  five  years  of  slavery, 
for  the  especial  benefit  of  the  purchaser,  but  for  the  prospect  of 
amelioration  in  the  negro  himself.  The  races  of  Ham  were  not 
made  subject  to  slavery  for  the  especial  benefit  of  Shem  and 
Japheth ;  but  because,  in  such  slavery,  their  condition  would  be 
more  elevated,  and  better,  than  in  a  state  of  freedom.  The  slave 
owner  may  be  very  wicked,  and  God  may  destroy  him  for  his 
wickedness,  and  yet  his  merciful  designs,  by  the  institution  of 
slavery,  not  be  affected  thereby.  An  eastern  monarch,  determined 
to  destroy  his  minister,  sent  him  a  present  of  a  thousand  slaves 
and  a  hundred  elephants.  The  minister  dared  not  refuse  the  pre 
sent  ;  but  not  beii^  able  profitably  to  employ  them,  was  ruined. 
But  the  condition  of  the  slave  and  the  elephant  was  not  injured. 
The  poor-house  was  not  made  for  the  especial  benefit  of  its  keeper, 
but  for  its  subjects. 


LESSON  VII. 

THE  benefit  of  the  slave-owner  depends  on  a  different  principle, 
upon  the  wisdom,  propriety,  and  prudence  with  which  he  governs 
and  manages  his  slaves.  If  he  neglect  their  morals,  suffering 
them  to  become  idle,  runaways,  dissolute,  thieves,  robbers,  and 
committers  of  crime,  he  is  made,  to  some  extent,  responsible ;  or 
if  he  neglect  to  supply  suitable  clothing,  food,  and  medicine,  at 
tention  in  sickness,  and  all  other  necessary  protection,  he  is  liable 
to  great  loss  ;  his  profit  may  be  greatly  diminished  ;  or,  if  he  abuse 
his  slave  with  untoward  cruelty,  he  may  render  him  less  fit  for 
labour, — may  destroy  him  altogether  ;  or  the  law  may  set  in,  and 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


compel  the  slave  to  be  sold  to  a  less  cruel  master.  The  interest 
of  the  master  has  become  protection  to  the  slave;  and  this  principle 
holds  good  in  all  countries,  in  all  ages,  and  among  all  men.  But 
it  is  yet  said,  that  there  are  men  who  most  outrageously  abuse, 
and  sometimes  kill  their  slaves.  Very  true  and  because  some  men 
do  the  same  to  their  wives,  is  it  any  argument  against  marriage  ? 
It  proves  that  there  are  men  who  are  not  fit  to  be  slave-owners. 
And  what  is  the  providence  of  God,  as  generally  manifested,  in 
these  cases  ?  That  such  husband  does  not  enjoy  the  full  blessing 
designed  by  the  institution  of  marriage  ;  or  such  marriage  is,  in 
some  way,  shortly  set  aside.  That  such  slave-owner  does  not  enjoy 
the  full  benefit  a  different  course  would  insure  to  him  ;  or,  in  some 
way,  he  is  made  to  cease  being  a  slave-owner.  Such  instances  are 
most  direct  and  powerful  manifestations  against  the  abuses,—  not 
of  the  institution  itself. 

But  God  has  not  left  his  displeasure  of  the  abuses  of  slavery  to 
be  found  out  by  our  poor,  dim,  mortal  eyes  ;  by  our  weak  view  of 
his  manifestations.  He  made  direct  laws  on  the  subject. 

"  But  the  seventh  day  is  the  sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God  ;  in 
it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter, 
thy  man-servant  (^\^3  abeddeka,  male  slave,}  nor  thy  ma^d-ser- 
ww«(?jn0^1  va  amatheka,  nor  thy  female  slave),  nor  thy  cattle, 
nor  thy  stranger  that  is  within  thy  gates."  Exod.  xx.  10. 

"  But  the  seventh  day  is  the  sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God  ;  in 
it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter, 
nor  thy  man-servant  (^3jn  ^  abeddeka,  male  slave),  nor  thy 
maid-servant  (^HpN^  va  amatheka,  female  slave],  nor  thine  ox,  nor 
thine  ass,  nor  any  of  thy  cattle,  nor  thy  stranger  that  is  within 
thy  gates  ;  that  thy  man-servant  (^31?  abeddeka,  male  slave) 
and  thy  maid-servant  (TjflDNl  va  amatheka,  female  slave)  may 
rest  as  well  as  thou."  Deut"v'.\±. 

But  we  find  laws  correcting  abuses  of  quite  a  different  nature  ; 
abuses  that  grow  out  of  the  perverse  nature  of  man  towards  his 
fellow-man  of  equal  grade,  touching  their  mutual  rights  in  pro 
perty  : 

14  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbour's  house,  thou  shalt  not 
covet  thy  neighbour's  wife,  nor  his  man-servant  (113P1  ve  abeddo, 
male  slave],  nor  his  maid-servant  (iflONl  va  amatho,  female  slave), 
nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass,  nor  any  thing  that  is  thy  neighbour's." 
JExod.  xx.  17. 


8 


114  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

"Neither  shalt  thou  desire  thy  neighbour's  wife,  neither  shalt 
thou  covet  thy  neighbour's  house,  his  field,  or  his  man-servant 
CnD^I  ve  abeddo,  male  slave),  or  his  maid-servant  (iDDNl  va 

-     A  ;     -  :  T  -:i- 

amathoj  female  slave),  his  ox,  or  his  ass,  or  any  thing  that  is  thy 
neighbour's."  Deut.  v.  21 — the  18th  of  the  Hebrew  text. 

It  does  appear  to  us  that  these  statutes  speak  volumes — por 
traying  the  providences  of  God,  and  his  design  in  regard  to  the 
institutions  of  slavery.  The  word  covet,  as  here  used,  as  well  as 
its  original,  implies  that  action  of  the  mind  which  reaches  to  the 
possession  of  the  thing  ourselves,  and  to  the  depriving  of  our 
neighbour,  without  a  glimpse  at  the  idea  of  payment,  reciprocity, 
or  compromise ;  consequently,  it  is  the  exact  action  of  mind, 
which,  when  cultivated  into  physical  display,  makes  a  man  a  thief. 
The  command  forbids  that  the  mind  shall  be  thus  exercised,  for 
the  command  only  reaches  to  the  exercise  of  the  mind ;  an  exer 
cise,  which,  from  the  very  nature  of  it,  must  for  ever  draw  us 
deeper  into  crime.  It  is  a  command  that  well  comes  to  us  from 
Jehovah  direct,  because  it  is  a  command  that  man  could  never  en 
force  :  the  individual,  and  Jehovah  alone,  can  only  and  surely  tell 
when  it  is  broken.  But  it  may  be  broken  in  various  ways ;  it  may 
be  broken  by  writing  books  persuading  others  that  it  is  no  crime, 
that  it  is  even  praiseworthy,  by  any  other  course  of  conduct,  to 
weaken  the  tenure  of  the  proprietor  in  the  property  named. 

"But  fools  do  sometimes  fearless  tread, 
Where  angels  dare  not  even  look!" 

We  hold  the  doctrine  good  that,  whenever  we  find  that  the 
providence  of  God  frowns  upon  the  abuse  of  a  thing,  such  abuse 
is  contrary  to  his  law.  So,  also,  the  doctrine  is  indisputably  true 
that  all  laws,  all  providences  against  the  abuse  of  a  thing,  neces 
sarily  become  laws  and  providences  for  the  protection  of  the  thing 
itself;  consequently,  it  always  follows  that  they  contemplate  pro 
tection. 

Mr.  Barnes  compares  the  slavery  of  the  Hebrews  in  Egypt  to 
the  condition  of  slavery  in  the  United  States,  and  complains  of 
the  harsh  treatment  of  the  slaves  in  the  latter  country.  See  p.  92 : 

"Preventing  the  slaves  from  being  taught  to  read  and  write; 
prohibiting,  as  far  as  possible,  all  knowledge  among  themselves  of 
their  own  numbers  and  strength ;  forbidding  all  assemblages,  even 
for  worship,  where  there  might  be  danger  of  their  becoming  ac 
quainted  with  their  own  strength,  and  of  forming  plans  for  free 
dom  j  enacting  laws  of  excessive  severity  against  those  who  run 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  ^5 

away  from  their  masters;  appointing  severe  and  disgraceful  pu 
nishments,  either  with  or  without  the  process  of  law,  for  those  who 
are  suspected  of  a  design  to  inform  the  slaves  that  they  are  men 
and  that  they  have  the  rights  of  human  beings  ;  and  solemnly 
prohibiting  the  use  of  arms  among  the  slaves,  designed  to  prevent 
their  rising  upon  their  masters,  or  « joining  themselves  to  an  enemy 
to  fight  against  their  masters,'  and  <  getting  up  out  of  the  land.'  " 
We  did  suppose  from  this  passage  that  Mr.  Barnes  might  desire 
us  to  lie  down,  and  let  the  slaves  Mil  or  make  slaves  of  us.  But 
he  has  presented  us  with  his  cure  for  all  these  wrongs  on  m^es 

OOO      QQA  TT  O  '*      ^"-gvo 

v  ood,  d84.     He  says — 

"Now  here,  I  am  persuaded,  is  a  wise  model  for  all  other  de 
nominations  of  Christian  men,  and  the  true  idea  of  all  successful 
efforts  for  the  removal  of  this  great  evil  from  the  land.     Let  all 
the  evangelical  denominations  but  follow  the  simple  example  of  the 
Quakers  in  this  country,  and  slavery  would  soon  come  to  an  end. 
There  is  not  power  of  numbers  and  influence  out  of  the  church  to 
sustain  it.     Let  every  denomination  in  the  land  detach  itself  from 
all  connection  with  slavery,  without  saying  a  word  against  others ; 
let  the  time  come  when,  in  all  the  mighty  denominations  of  Chris 
tians,  it  can  be  assured  that  the  evil  has  ceased  with  them  FOR 
EVER  ;  and  let  the  voice,  from  each  denomination,  be  lifted  up  in 
kind,  but  firm  and  solemn,  testimony  against  the  system ;  with  no 
<  mealy'  words ;  with  no  attempt  at  apology  ;  with  no  wish  to  blink 
it ;  with  no  effort  to  throw  the  sacred  shield  of  religion  over  so 
great^an  evil ;  and  the  work  is  done.     There  is  no  public  sentiment 
in  this  land,  there  could  be  none  created,  that  would  resist  the 
power  of  such  testimony.     There  is  no  power  out  of  the  church 
that  could  sustain  slavery  an  hour,  if  it  were  not  sustained  in  it. 
Not  a  blow  need  be  struck.     Not  an  unkind  word  need  be  uttered. 
No  man's  motive  need  be  impugned.     No  man's  proper  rights  in- 
vade<L     All  that  is  needful  is  for  each  Christian  man,  and  every 
Christian  church,  to  stand  up  in  the  sacred  majesty  of  such  a 
solemn  testimony;  to  free  themselves  from  all  connection  with  the 
evil,  and  utter  a  calm  and  deliberate  voice  to  the  world ;  and  THE 

WORK   WILL   BE   DONE!" 

This  looks  very  much  like  converting  the  church  into  an  instru 
ment  of  political  power.  We  might  indulge  in  severe  remarks. 
We  might  quote  some  very  cogent  and  rebuking  passages  of  Scrip 
ture  ;  but,  since  we  believe  that  where  the  spirit  of  Christ  is,  he 
will  be  ther3  also,  we  do  not  deem  it  necessary. 


116  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


From  the  very  considerable  labour  evidently  bestowed  in  tlie 
preparation  of  the  test,  apparently  to  be  applied  in  his  reasoning 
on  this  subject,  a  feeling  of  disappointment  rests  upon  the  mind 
when  we  discover  how  little  use  Mr.  Barnes  has  made  of  it. 

We  have  given  a  view  of  Mr.  Barnes's  peroration ;  his  complaints ; 
the  wrongs  that  excite  his  sympathy ;  and  his  final  conclusion  of 
the  whole  matter.  We  have  attempted  to  reason  by  the  same  rule 
he  has  adopted,  and,  so  far  as  he  has  chosen  to  apply  it,  leave  it 
to  others  to  judge  whether  it  is  not  most  fatal  to  the  cause  he 
advocates, 


LESSON  VIII. 

WE  are  told  that  book-making,  among  some,  has  become  a  trade. 
That  some  men  write  books  to  order,  to  suit  the  market ;  that  there 
is  no  knowing  what  may  be  an  author's  principles,  or  whether  he 
has  any  at  all,  by  what  may  be  in  his  book. 

The  principal  object  of  such  a  writer  must  be  his  money — his 
pay :  if  in  great  haste  to  get  it  in  possession,  he  may  be  expected 
sometimes  to  be  careless  ;  and  unless  very  talented  and  experienced 
in  the  subject  on  which  he  writes,  to  record  contradictions. 

Page  83,  Mr.  Barnes  says — "  The  Hebrews  were  not  essentially 
distinguished  from  the  Egyptians,  as  the  Africans  are  from  their 
masters  in  this  land,  by  colour."  But  he  continues,  pages  86  and 
87 — "  They  (the  Hebrews)  were  a  foreign  race,  as  the  African 
race  is  with  us.  They  were  not  Egyptians,  any  more  than  the 
nations  of  Congo  are  Americans.  They  were  not  of  the  children 
of  Ham.  They  were  of  another  family ;  they  differed  from  the 
Egyptians,  by  whom  they  were  held  in  bondage,  as  certainly  as  the 
African  does  from  the  Caucasian  or  the  Malay  divisions  of  the 
great  family  of  man." 

In  page  228,  on  another  subject,  he  says — "  If,  therefore,  it  be 
true  that  slavery  did  not  prevail  in  Judea ;  that  there  is  no  evidence 
that  the  Hebrews  engaged  in  the  traffic,  and  that  the  prophets  felt 
themselves  at  liberty  to  denounce  the  system  as  contrary  to  the 
spirit  of  the  Mosaic  institutions,  these  FACTS  will  furnish  an  im 
portant  explanation  of  some  things  in  regard  to  the  subject  in  the 
New  Testament,  and  will  prepare  us  to  enter  on  the  inquiry  how 
it  was  regarded  by  the  Saviour ;  for  if  slavery  did  not  exist  in 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY 

Palestine  in  his  time :  if  lie  never  came  in  contact  with  it,  it  will 
not  be  fair  to  infer  that  he  was  not  opposed  to  it,  because  he  did 
not  often  refer  to  it,  and  expressly  denounce  it." 

This  is  in  strict  conformity  with  the  following : 

Page  242.  "There  is  no  conclusive  evidence  that  he  ever  came  in 
contact  with  slavery  at  all.  *  *  *  There  is  no  proof  which  I 
have  seen  referred  to  from  any  contemporary  writer,  that  it  existed 
in  Judea  in  his  time  at  all ;  and  there  is  no  evidence  from  the  New 
Testament  that  he  ever  came  in  contact  with  it." 

Also,  page  244.  "  There  is  not  the  slightest  proof  that  the  Sa 
viour  ever  came  in  contact  with  slavery  at  all,  either  in  public  or 
in  private  life." 

Also,  page  249.  "  We  have  seen  above,  that  there  is  no  evidence 
that  when  the  Saviour  appeared,  slavery  in  any  form  existed  in 
Judea,  and  consequently  there  is  no  proof  that  he  ever  encoun 
tered  it." 

Permit  us  to  compare  these  statements  with  Matt.  viii.  5-14  : 

"  And  when  Jesus  was  entered  into  Capernaum,  there  carne  unto 
him  a  centurion,  beseeching  him,  (verse  6,)  and  saying,  Lord,  my 
servant,  &c.  (Verse  9,)  For  I  am  a  man  of  authority,  having  sol 
diers  under  me ;  and  I  say  to  this  man  go,  and  he  goeth ;  and  to 
another,  Come,  and  he  cometh,  and  to  my  SERVANT  (SovXa,  slave), 
Do  this,  and  he  doeth  it,"  &c. 

Also,  Luke  vii.  2-10.  "  And  a  certain  centurion's  servant  (<5oivlog, 
slave)  was  sick,"  &c.  *  *  *  «  beseeching  him  that  he  would 
come  and  heal  his  servant  (boitiov,  slave.}  (Verse  10,)  "And  they 
that  were  sent,  returning  to  the  house,  found  the  servant  (boiftov, 
slave)  whole  that  had  been  sick." 

So  also,  Luke  xix.  12-16.  (Verse  13,)  "  And  he  called  his  ten 
servants  (Sovfavg,  slaves),  &c.  Also  John  viii.  33-36  :  "  And  they 
answered  him,  we  be  Abraham's  seed,  and  were  never  in  bondage 
(&e$OV%£VXCL[ji8V)  in  slavery)  to  any  man ;  how  sayest  thou,  Ye 
shall  be  made  free?  (Verse  34,)  "Jesus  answered  them,  Verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you,  whoever  committeth  sin  is  the  servant  (^oivtog, 
alave)  of  sin."  (Verse  35,)  "And  the  servant  (Sovtog,  slave) 
abideth  not  in  the  house  for  ever,  but  the  Son  abideth  ever.  If  the 
Son  therefore  make  you  free,  you  shall  be  free  indeed." 

Permit  us  also  to  compare  them  with  the  following,  Mr.  Barnes's 
own  statements.  See  page  250  :  "  All  that  the  argument  does 
require,  whatever  conclusion  we  may  reach  as  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  apostles  treated  the  subject,  is,  the  admission  of  the  fact, 


118  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


that  slavery  everywhere  abounded ;  that  it  existed  in  forms  of  great 
seventy  and  cruelty ;  that  it  involved  all  the  essential  claims  that 
are  now  made  by  masters  to  the  services  or  persons  of  slaves  ;  that 
it  was  protected  by  civil  laws ;  that  the  master  had  the  right  of 
transferring  his  slaves  by  sale,  donation,  or  testament ;  that  in 
general  he  had  every  right  which  was  supposed  to  be  necessary  to 
perpetuate  the  system  ;  and  that  it  was  impossible  that  the  early 
preachers  of  Christianity  should  not  encounter  this  system,  and  be 
constrained  to  adopt  principles  in  regard  to  the  proper  treatment 
of  it." 

And,  again,  page  251 :  "  It  is  fair  that  the  advocates  of  the 
system  should  have  all  the  advantage  which  can  be  derived  from 
the  fact,  that  the  apostles  found  it  in  its  most  odious  forms, 
and  in  such  circumstances  as  to  make  it  proper  that  they  should 
regard,  and  treat  it  as  an  evil,  if  Christianity  regards  it  as  such  at 
all." 

And,  again,  pages  259,  260  :  "  I  am  persuaded  that  nothing  can 
be  gained  to  the  cause  of  anti-slavery  by  attempting  to  deny  that 
the  apostles  found  slavery  in  existence  in  the  regions  where  they 
founded  churches,  and  that  those  sustaining  the  relation  of  master 
and  slave  were  admitted  to  the  churches,  if  they  gave  real  evidence 
of  regeneration,  and  were  regarded  by  the  apostles  as  entitled  to 
the  common  participation  of  the  privileges  of  Christianity." 

But  there  are  other  errors  in  this  "  Scriptural  View  of  Slavery," 
page  245: 

"  He  (the  Saviour)  never  uttered  a  word  in  favour  of  slavery, 
*  *  *  not  even  a  hint  can  be  found,  in  all  he  said,  on  which  a 
man  *  *  *  who  meant  to  keep  one  already  in  his  possession, 
could  rely  to  sustain  his  course." 

We  ask  that  this  assertion  of  Mr.  Barnes  shall  be  compared  with 
Luke  xvii.  7-11 : 

"  But  which  of  you  having  a  servant  (Soivlo^,  slave)  ploughing, 
or  feeding  cattle,  will  say  unto  him,  by  and  by,  when  he  has  come 
from  the  field,  Go,  sit  down  to  meat  ?  And  will  not  rather  say  unto 
him,  Make  ready  wherewith  I  may  sup,  and  gird  thyself  and  serve 
me,  till  I  have  eaten  and  drunken,  and  afterward  thou  shalt  eat 
and  drink  ?  Doth  he  thank  that  servant  (8ovfap9  slave)  because 
he  did  the  things  that  were  commanded  him  ?  I  trow  not."  "  So 
likewise  ye,  when  ye  shall  have  done  all  those  things  which  are  com 
manded  you,  say,  We  are  unprofitable  servants ;  we  have  done  that 
which  was  our  duty  to  do." 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  H9 

And,  again,  Mr.  Barnes  says :  "  The  nations  of  Palestine  were 
devoted  to  destruction,  not  to  servitude."  See  page  118. 

Compare  this  with  the  following,  from  page  156 :  "  There  were 
particular  reasons  operating  for  subjecting  the  nations  around 
Palestine  to  servitude,  which  do  not  exist  now.  They  were 
doomed  to  servitude  for  sins." 


LESSON  IX. 

Deut.  xxiii.  9.  "When  the  host  goeth  forth  against  thine  ene 
mies,  then  keep  thee  from  every  wicked  thing" — directions  what 
to  do,  or  what  not  to  do,  in  time  of  war,  being  continued,  the  15th 
and  16th  verses  read  thus : 

"  Thou  shalt  not  deliver  up  to  his  master  the  servant  (slave) 
which  is  escaped  unto  thee."  *  *  *  "  He  shall  dwell  with  thee,  even 
among  you  in  that  place  which  he  shall  choose  in  on'}  of  thy  gates 
where  it  liketh  him  best ;  thou  shalt  not  oppress  hiir ." 

This  passage  is  quoted  by  Mr.  Barnes,  upon  which  he  says, 
page  140 — 

"I  am  willing  to  admit  that  the  command  probably  relates  only 
to  the  slaves  which  escaped  to  the  country  of  the  Hebrews  from 
surrounding  nations ;  and  that  in  form  it  did  not  contemplate  the 
runaway  slaves  of  the  Hebrews  in  their  own  land." 

Pray,  then,  for  what  purpose  does  he  speak  as  follows? 

"A  seventh  essential  and  fundamental  feature  of  the  Hebrew 
slavery  was,  that  the  runaway  slave  was  not  to  be  restored  to  his 
master ;  on  this  point  the  law  was  absolute." 

And  to  sustain  this  assertion,  he  quotes  this  same  passage  from 
Deuteronomy,  and,  commenting  thereon,  says,  pages  140,  141 — 
"  This  solemn  and  fundamental  enactment  would  involve  the  fol 
lowing  results  or  effects.  (1.)  No  laws  could  ever  be  enacted  in  the 
Hebrew  commomwealth  by  which  a  runaway  slave  could  be  restored 
to  his  master.  No  revolution  of  the  government,  and  no  change  cf 
policy,  could  ever  modify  this  principle  of  the  constitution.  (2.J  No 
magistrate  could  on  any  pretence  deliver  up  a  runaway  slave." 

Then,  again,  page  190  : 

"  Slaves  of  the  United  States  are  to  be  restored  to  their  masters, 
if  they  endeavour  to  escape.  We  find  among  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  Mosaic  laws  a  provision  that  the  slave  was  never 


120  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


to  be  restored,  if  he  attempted  to  do  thus.  He  was  to  find  in  the 
land  of  Judea  an  asylum.  The  power  and  authority  of  the  com 
monwealth  were  pledged  for  his  protection." 

And  yet,  again,  page  226 : 

"  As  one  of  the  results  of  this  inquiry,  it  is  apparent  that  the 
Hebrews  were  not  a  nation  of  slaveholders." 

We  present  these  passages  to  shows  Mr.  Barnes's  mode  of  argu 
ment.  But  let  us  examine,  for  a  moment,  the  indications  of  the 
holy  books  on  the  subject  of  runaway  slaves.  When  David  had 
protected  the  flocks  of  Nabal,  upon  the  mountains  of  Carmel,  on 
a  holiday,  he  sent  his  young  men,  to  ask  a  present,  as  some  com 
pensation  for  the  same. 

"And  Nabal  answered  David's  servants,  and  said,  Who  is 
David  ?  and  who  is  the  son  of  Jesse  ?  There  be  many  servants 
(D*"lDi^  abadim,  slaves)  nowadays  that  break  away  every  man  from 
his  master.  Shall  I  then  take  my  bread,  and  my  water,  and  my 
flesh  that  I  have  killed  for  my  shearers,  and  give  it  unto  men, 
whom  I  know  not  whence  they  be  ?"  1  Sam.  xxv.  10,  11. 

We  think  the  indications  are  that  for  slaves  to  run  away  was 
a  common  occurrence,  and  that  it  was  immoral  to  give  them  coun 
tenance  or  protection ;  and  Nabal,  pretending  that  David  might 
be  one  of  that  class,  excused  himself  from  bestowing  the  present 
on  that  account. 

"  And  it  came  to  pass  at  the  end  of  three  years,  that  two  of  the 
servants  (DHD.J7  abadim,  slaves)  of  Shemei  ran  away  unto  Achish, 
son  of  Maachah  king  of  Gath;  and  they  told  Shemei,  saying, 
Behold  thy  servants  (n*"l^I?  abadeJca,  slaves)  be  in  Gath.  And 
Shemei  arose  and  saddled  his  ass,  and  went  to  Gath  to  Achish  to 
seek  his  servants  (V"O#  abadav,  slaves) ;  and  Shemei  went  and 
brought  his  servants  (V"OJf  abadav,  slaves)  from  Gath."  1  Kings, 
ii.  39,  40. 

If  it  can  be  said  that  Jehovah  has  views  and  wishes,  then  it  may 
be  said,  that  the  views  and  wishes  of  Jehovah  on  the  subject  of 
runaway  slaves  must,  at  all  times,  be  the  same.  "  In  him  there  is 
no  variableness,  nor  shadow  of  turning." 

"  And  she  had  a  hand-maid  (nn5&*  shiphehah,  female  slave),  an 
Egyptian  (J1HVP  mitserith,  Egyptian,  a  descendant  of  Misraim, 
the  second  son  of  Ham),  whose  name  was  Hagar."  6ren.  xvi.  1. 

Upon  a  feud  between  her  and  her  mistress,  her  mistress  dealt 
hardly  by  her,  and  she  ran  away :  "  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

found  her  by  a  fountain  of  water  in  the  wilderness,  oy  the  fountain 
in  the  way  to  Shur."  (8th  verse,)  "And  he  said,  Hagar,  Sarai's 
maid,  whence  comest  thou  ?  and  whither  wilt  thou  go  ?  And  she 
said,  I  flee  from  the  face  of  my  mistress  Sarai."  (The  angel  did 
not  say  to  her,  "Here  is  a  shilling;  get  into  Canada  as  soon  as 
possible  !")  "  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  said  unto  her,  Return  to 
thy  mistress  and  submit  thyself  under  her  hands."  Gf-en.  xvi.  7-9. 

On  page  117,  Mr.  Barnes  says — 

"  In  the  laws  of  Moses,  there  is  but  one  way  mentioned  by  which 
a  foreigner  could  be  made  a  slave ;  that  is,  by  purchase.  Lev. 
xxv.  44.  And  it  is  remarkable  that  the  Hebrews  were  not  per 
mitted  to  make  slaves  of  the  captives  taken  in  war." 

Let  us  compare  this  assertion,  made  by  Mr.  Barnes,  with  the  31st 
of  Numbers : 

"Arid  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses  saying,  Avenge  the  children 
of  Israel  of  the  Midianites.  *  *  *  (Verse  9,)  And  the  children 
of  Israel  took  all  the  women  of  Midian  captives,  and  their  little 
ones.  *  *  *  (Verse  11,)  And  they  took  all  the  spoils  and  all  the 
prey,  both  of  men  and  of  beasts.  (Verse  12,)  And  they  brought 
the  captives  and  the  prey  unto  Moses  and  Eleazar  the  priest.  *  *  * 
^Verse  25,)  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  Take  the 
sum  of  the  prey  that  was  taken,  both  of  man  and  beast.  *  *  * 
(Verse  27,)  And  divide  the  prey  into  two  parts,  between  them  that 
took  the  war  upon  them,  who  went  out  to  battle,  and  between  all 
the  congregation.  *  *  *  (Verse  28,)  And  levy  a  tribute  unto  the 
Lord  of  the  men  of  war  which  went  out  to  battle,  one  soul  of  five 
hundred,  both  of  the  persons  and  of  the  beeves.  *  *  *  (Verse  30,) 
And  of  the  children  of  Israel's  half,  thou  shalt  take  one  portion  of 
fifty  of  the  persons,  &c.  *  *  *  (Verse  32,)  And  the  booty,  being 
the  rest  of  the  prey,  which  the  men  of  war  had,  was  *  *  *  sheep. 
(Verse  35,)  And  thirty-two  thousand  persons  in  all.  *  *  *  (Verse 
36,)  And  the  half  which  was  the  portion  of  them  that  went  out  to 
war,  was,  &c.  *•  *  *  sheep,  &c.  (Verse  40,)  "And  the  persons 
were  sixteen  thousand,  of  which  the  Lord's  tribute  was  thirty  and 
two  persons.  (Verse  42)  And  the  children  of  Israel's  half  which 
Moses  divided  from  the  men  that  warred  *  *  *  was,  &c.  *  *  * 
-heep,  &c.  *  *  *  (Verse  46,)  and  sixteen  thousand  persons.  (Verse 
47,)  Even  of  the  children  of  Israel's  half,  Moses  took  one  portion 
of  fifty,  both  of  man  and  of  beast,  and  gave  them  unto  the  Levites 
which  kept  the  charge  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord,  as  the  Lord 
commanded  Moses." 


122  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


LESSON  X. 

IN  ancient  times,  all  persons  conquered  in  battle  were  liable  to 
be  put  to  death  by  the  national  laws  then  existing.  If  the  con 
queror  suffered  the  captive  to  escape  death,  imposing  on  him  only 
the  cutting  off  his  thumbs,  hands,  or  ears ;  or,  without  these  per 
sonal  deformations,  subjecting  him  to  slavery,  as  was  often  the 
case,  especially  when  the  captive  was  of  low  grade, — it  was  ever 
regarded  as  an  act  of  mercy  in  the  conqueror. 

In  the  17th  verse  of  the  thirty-first  chapter  of  Numbers,  Moses 
commanded  that  "  every  male  among  the  little  ones,  and  every 
woman  who  had  known  a  man,"  should  be  killed,  even  after  they 
had  been  taken  to  the  Israelitish  camp ;  and  that  none  should  be 
reserved  for  slaves,  except  female  children,  of  whom,  it  appears., 
there  were  thirty-two  thousand.  The  booty  taken  in  this  war,  was 
distributed  by  Moses,  in  comformity  to  the  especial  direction  of 
God  himself,  as  follows: — (Verse  25,)  "And  the  Lord  spake  unto 
Moses,  saying,  (verse  26,)  Take  the  sum  of  the  prey  that  was  taken, 
loth  of  man  and  of  beast,  thou,  and  Eleazar  the  priest,  and  the 
chief  fathers  of  the  congregation,  (verse  28,)  and  levy  a  tribute 
unto  the  Lord  of  the  men  of  war  which  went  out  to  battle :  one 
soul  of  five  hundred,  loth  of  the  PERSONS,  and  of  the  beeves,  and 
of  the  asses,  and  of  the  sheep  :  (verse  29,)  Take  it  of  their  half, 
and  give  it  unto  Eleazar  the  priest,  for  a  heave-offering  of  the 
Lord.  (Verse  30,)  And  of  the  children  of  Israel's  half,  thou  shalt 
take  one  portion  of  fifty  of  the  PERSONS,  of  the  beeves,  of  the 
asses,  and  of  the  flocks,  of  all  manner  of  beasts,  and  give  them  to 
the  Levites  which  keep  the  charge  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord. 
(Verse  31,)  And  Moses  and  Eleazar  did  as  the  Lord  commanded 
Moses." 

Houbigant,  in  his  commentary  upon  this  chapter,  has  given  us 
the  following 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  123 

Table  of  the  distribution  of  the  booty  of  this  war : 

To  the  Soldiers.. ..337,500 To  the  Lord 675 


Sheep 675,000  j 

Beeves....  72,000  -j 

Asses 61,000  { 

Persons..  32,000 


People  ......  337,500  ...... 

Soldiers....  36,000  ...... 

People  ......  36,000  ...... 

Soldiers....  30,500  ...... 

People  ......  30,500  ...... 

Soldiers....  16,000  ...... 

People  ......  16,000  ...... 


Levites...  6,750 
Lord  ......        72 

Levites...      720 


Lord  ...... 

Levites... 
Lord  ...... 

Levites... 


61 
610 

32 
320 


This  table  has  been  adopted  by  Dr.  Adam  Clark  in  his  Com 
mentary,  to  which  he -adds — 

"  In  this  table  the  booty  is  equally  divided  between  the  people 
and  the  soldiers ;  a  five-hundredth  part  being  given  to  the  Lord, 
and  a  fiftieth  part  to  the  Levites."  And  this  learned  divine,  in 
his  commentary  on  the  28th  verse,  says — "  And  levy  a  tribute  unto 
the  Lord,  one  soul  of  five  hundred,  &c.  *  *  *  The  persona 
to  be  employed  in  the  Lord's  service,  under  the  Levites :  the  cattle 
either  for  sacrifice  or  for  the  use  of  the  Levites.  (Verse  30.)  Some 
monsters  have  supposed  that  one  out  of  every  five  hundred  of  the 
captives  was  offered  in  sacrifice  to  the  Lord  !  But  this  is  abomi 
nable.  When  God  chose  to  have  the  life  of  a  man,  he  took  it  in 
the  way  of  justice,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Midianites  above ;  but 
never  in  the  way  of  sacrifice." 

In  the  29th  verse,  we  learn  that  the  Lord's  portion  was  to  be 
given  to  Eleazar  the  priest,  "for  a  heave-offering  of  the  Lord." 
The  word  heave-offering  is  rendered  from  the  word  flO^p  teru- 
math,  from  the  root  DH  rum,  which  means  a  lifting  up,  exalting, 
elevation  of  rank,  while  the  form  here  used  means  a  gift,  a  con 
tribution,  associated  with  the  idea  of  being  lifted  up,  exalted,  ele 
vated  to  a  higher  condition.  Hence,  when  the  priest  presented  a. 
heave-offering,  he  moved  his  censer  upwards,  in  a  perpendicular 
line,  with  the  view  to  intimate  the  elevating  tendency  resulting  from 
the  relation  of  the  person  offering,  the  thing  offered,  and  the  one 
to  whom  it  is  offered;  whereas,  in  a  wave-offering,  he  moved  his 
censer  in  a  horizontal  line,  intimating  a  relation  of  steadfastness 
and  unchangeability.  Because  the  cross  is  represented  by  perpen 
dicular  and  horizontal  lines,  some  early  commentators  have  ima 
gined  that  the  heave  and  wave-offerings  were  typical  of  the  cross 
of  Christ.  The  word  "heave,"  as  here  used,  is  purely  Saxon: 
heafan,  to  lift,  to  raise,  to  move  upward.  We  may  well  say  t<> 
heave  up;  but  it  is  bad  Saxon  to  say  heave  down.  From  this  same 


124  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY 

Saxon  word  comes  our  word  heaven,  on  account  of  the  notion  of 
its  lofty  location,  and  the  elevating  influence  of  the  acts  of  him 
who  shall  reach  it ;  each  act  which  makes  us  nearer  heaven  may 
no*  inappropriately  be  considered  a  heave-offering  to  the  Lord. 
The  corollary  is,  that  if  God  had  regarded  the  making  these 
children  slaves  a  sin, — since  sin  always  deteriorates  and  degrades, 
the  reverse  of  elevation  or  lifting  up,— he  never  could  have  ordered 
any  of  them  to  be  given  to  him  as  a  heave-offering. 

We  trust  to  establish  the  point  that  the  enslavement  of  such 
people  as  we  find  the  African  hordes  now  to  be,  to  those  who  have 
a  more  correct  knowledge  of  God  and  his  laws, — of  those  most 
wicked  Midianites,  to  those  to  whom  God  had  most  especially  re 
vealed  himself,— must,  so  long  as  the  laws  of  God  operate,  have  an 
elevating  influence  upon  those  so  enslaved.  Thus  we  shall  perceive 
that  the  Hebrew  word  translated  into  our  old  Saxon  heave-offer 
ing  was  the  most  appropriate,  and  significant  of  the  facts  of  the 
case,  that  could  be  expressed  by  language. 

Our  received  version  of  this  chapter,  which  is  a  good  translation 
of  the  original,  contains  no  word  by  which  we  directly  express  the 
idea  of  slavery  :  so  is  it  in  the  original.  But  we  trust  the  readers 
of  either  will  not  be  found  so  awry  as  not  to  perceive  that  the  idea 
and  facts  are  as  fully  and  substantially  developed  as  though  those 
terms  were  used  in  each. 

In  the  most  of  languages,  an  idea,  and  facts  in  relation  to  it,  may 
l>e  and  are  often  expressed  without  the  use  of  the  name  of  the  idea, 
and  sometimes  of  the  facts.  The  Greek  is  well  deemed  a  most  par 
ticular  and  definite  language.  In  Thucydides,  liber  vii.  caput  87, 
this  sentence  occurs:  eTtEtfa  T&W  A&pai&v,  xai  eirwe$  2t- 
xshicvttov  n  'Irafaurtiv  %vvearpa*evaav,  TOV$  a^ovg  fatebovro. 
Here,  there  is  no  word  expressing  the  idea  of  slavery.  Literally, 
it  is:  "Then,  except  the  Athenians,  and  some  of  the  Sicilians  or 
Italians,  who  had  engaged  in  the  war,  all  others  were  sold."  Yet 
Dr.  Smith,  the  rector  of  Holy  Trinity  Church,  in  Chester,  Eng 
land,  who  lived  at  an  age  beyond  the  reach  of  prejudice  or  argu 
ment  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  (he  was  born  in  1711,)  has  correctly 
translated  the  passage  thus :  "  But,  after  this  term,  all  but  the 
Athenians,  and  such  of  the  Sicilians  and  Italians  as  had  joined 
with  them  in  the  invasion,  were  sold  out  for  slaves."  Smith's 
Tkucyd.  p.  285. 

And  permit  us  further   to   inquire    how  the  assertion   of  Mr. 
Barnes,  page  117,  that,  "in  the  laws  of  Moses  there  is  but  one 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  125 

way  mentioned  by  which  a  foreigner  could  be  made  a  slave  ;  that 
is,  by  purchase,  Lev.  xxv.  44 ;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  the  He 
brews  were  not  permitted  to  make  slaves  of  the  captives  taken  in 
the  war" — will  compare  with  Deut.  xx.  10-16  : 

"  And  when  thou  comest  nigh  unto  a  city  to  fight  against  it, 
then  proclaim  peace  unto  it."  *  *  *  "And  it  shall  be,  if  it 
make  answer  of  peace,  and  open  unto  thee,  then  it  shall  be,  that 
all  the  people  that  is  found  therein,  shall  be  tributaries  unto  thee, 
and  shall  serve  thee'  (^"pi?,!  va  abadulm,  shall  be  slaves  to  thee}. 
"And  if  it  will  make  no  peace  with  thee,  but  will  make  war 
against  thee,  then  thou  shalt  besiege  it."  And  when  the  hand  of 
thy  God  hath  delivered  it  into  thy  hands,  thou  shalt  smite  every 
male  thereof  with  the  edge  of  the  sword."  "But  the  women,  and 
the  little  ones,  and  the  cattle,  and  all  that  is  within  the  city,  even 
all  the  spoil  thereof,  shalt  thou  take  unto  thyself;  and  thou  shalt 
eat  the  spoil  of  thine  enemies,  which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  given 
thee."  "  Thus  shalt  thou  do  unto  all  the  cities  which  are  very  far 
off  from  thee,  which  are  not  of  the  cities  of  those  nations." 

It  is  evident  that  the  captives  here  allowed  to  be  made  were 
to  be  slaves,  from  what  follows  on  the  same  subject,  in  the  same 
book,  xxi.  10-15:  When  thou  goest  forth  to  war  against  thine  ene 
mies,  and  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  delivered  them  into  thy  hands, 
and  thou  hast  taken  them  captive,  and  seest  among  the  captives 
a  beautiful  woman,  and  hast  a  desire  unto  her,  that  thou  wouldst 
have  her  to  thy  wife  :  then  thou  shalt  bring  her  home  to  thy  house, 
and  she  shall  shave  her  head  and  pare  her  nails  :  and  she  shall 
put  the  raiment  of  her  captivity  from  off  her,  and  shall  remain  in 
thy  house,  and  bewail  her  father  and  her  mother  a  full  month : 
and  after  that,  thou  shalt  go  in  unto  her,  and  be  her  husband,  and 
she  shall  be  thy  wife.  And  it  shall  be,  if  thou  have  no  delight  in 
her,  then  thou  shalt  let  her  go  whither  she  will ;  but  thou  shalt 
not  sell  her  at  all  for  money-:  thou  shalt  not  make  merchandise 
of  her,  because  thou  hast  humbled  her." 

Thus  the  fact  is  proved,  that  if  he  had  not  thus  made  her  his 
wife,  she  would  have  been  his  slave  and  an  article  of  merchandise. 


126  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 


LESSON  XL 

IN  the  introductory  part  of  Mr.  Barnes's  book,  he  makes  some 
remarks  in  the  nature  of  an  apology  for  his  undertaking  to  examine 
the  subject  of  slavery.  Page  20,  he  says — 

"  Belonging  to  the  same  race  with  those  who  are  held  in  bond 
age.  We  have  a  right,  nay,  we  are  bound  to  express  the  sympa 
thies  of  brotherhood,  and  '  to  remember  those  who  are  in  bonds 
as  bound  with  them.' ' 

We  were  not  aware  of  any  fact  relating  to  Mr.  Barnes's  descent ; 
nor  did  we  before  know  from  what  race  he  was  descended. 

We  were  truly  much  surprised  at  this  avowal,  and  endeavoured 
to  imagine  that  he  had  used  the  word  in  some  general  and  indefinite 
sense,  as  some  do  when  they  say  animal  race,  and  human  race. 
But  on  examining  his  use  of  the  word,  page  20 :  "  How  is  a 
foreign  race,  with  so  different  a  complexion,  and  in  reference  to 
which,  so  deep-seated  prejudices  and  aversions  exist,  in  every  part 
of  the  land,  to  be  disposed  of  if  they  become  free  ?" — and  page  27 : 
"  And  the  struggles  which  gave  liberty  to  millions  of  the  Anglo- 
saxon  race  did  not  loosen  one  rivet  from  the  fetter  of  an  African;" 
page  83 :  "  The  Hebrews  were  not  essentially  distinguished  from 
the  Egyptians,  as  the  Africans  are  from  their  masters  in  this 
land,  by  colour;"  and  page  86 :  "  They  were  a  foreign  race,  as 
the  African  race  is  with  us ;"  and  page  96 :  "  There  are  in  the 
United  States  now,  according  to  the  census  of  1840,  2,486,465  of 
a  foreign  race  held  in  bondage  ;"  and  page  97  :  "It  would  have 
been  as  just  for  the  Egyptians  to  retain  the  Hebrews  in  bondage 
as  it  is  for  white  Americans  to  retain  the  African  race;" — we 
were  forced  to  conclude  that  the  author  understood  his  language 
and  its  meaning. 

Such,  then,  being  the  fact,  we  cannot  find  it  in  our  heart  to  blame 
him  for  "  expressing  the  sympathies  of  brotherhood."  But  we  feel 
disposed  with  kindness  to  relieve  his  mind  from  the  burthen  of 
such  portion  of  sympathy  for  those  of  his  race  who  are  in  slavery, 
as  he  may  conceive  to  be  a  duty  imposed  by  the  injunction,  "He- 
member  those  who  are  in  bond,  as  bound  with  them."  We  will 
quote  the  passage,  ffeb.  xiii.  3 :  "  Remember  them  that  are  in 
bonds,  as  bound  with  them."  It  is  translated  from  the  Greek — 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  127 


wg  (nweepevto,  Mimneskesthe  ton  des- 
mion  hos  sundedemenoi.  The  words  translated  "bonds,"  "bound 
with,"  &c.  are  derived  from  the  root  <feo,  deo,  and  signifies  to  bind,  to 
bring  together,  to  chain,  to  fetter,  to  hinder,  to  restrain,  &c.,  which 
meaning  falls  into  all  its  derivations.  When  one  was  accused  of 
some  offence,  and  was,  on  that  account,  restrained,  so  that  he 
might  be  surely  had  at  a  trial  for  the  same,  such  restraint  would 
be  expressed,  as  the  case  required,  by  some  of  its  derivations. 
Hence  we  have  ^£(7(g,  desis,  the  act  of  binding  ;  <fo^a,  desma,  a 
bond,  a  chain  ;  Ssa^LOSfdesmios,  chained,  fettered,  imprisoned,  &c.  ; 
<$ecr^6g,  desmos,  a  bond,  chain,  knots,  cords,  cables;  Secr^oc.)., 
desmoo,  to  enchain,  to  imprison  ;  &<7tuo<|>i'>/la£,  desmophulax,  a. 
jailer,  &c. 

The  word  is  used,  differently  varied,  in  Matt.  xvi.  19;  xviii.  18  ; 
Acts  viii.  23  ;  xx.  23  ;  xxiii.  21  ;  xxvi.  29  ;  Horn.  vii.  2  ;  1  Cor.  vii. 
39  ;  JEph.  iv.  3  ;  Philip,  i.  16  ;  Col.  iv.  18  ;  2  Tim.  ii.  9  ;  Philem. 
10  ;  Heb.  x.  34  ;  xi.  36  ;  and  never  used,  in  any  sense  whatever, 
to  express  any  condition  of  slavery.  St.  Paul  was  under  the  re 
straint  of  the  law  upon  a  charge  of  heresy.  All  the  Christians 
of  his  day  were  very  liable  to  like  danger.  His  only  meaning 
was  that  all  such  should  be  remembered,  as  though  they  themselves 
were  suffering  a  like  misfortune.  Suppose  he  had  expressed  the 
idea  more  diffusely  and  said,  "  Remember  all  Christians  who,  for 
teaching  Christ  crucified,  are  persecuted  on  the  charge  of  teaching 
;i  false  religion,  as  though  you  yourselves  were  persecuted  with 
them." 

Such  was  the  fact.  Surely  no  one,  by  any  course  of  rational 
deduction,  could  construe  it  into  an  injunction  to  remember  or  do 
any  thing  else,  in  regard  to  slavery  or  its  subjects,  unless  upon 
the  condition  that  the  slave  was,  by  some  means,  under  restraint 
upon  a  similar  charge.  St.  Paul  was  never  married  ;  cannot  be 
said  to  have  looked  with  very  ardent  eyes  upon  the  institution  of 
marriage  ;  by  many  is  thought  to  have  been  unfavourably  disposed 
towards  it.  We  have  among  us,  to  this  day,  some  who  pretend  that 
they  think  it  a  great  evil,  are  its  bitter  enemies,  and  give  evidence 
that,  if  in  their  power,  they  would  totally  abolish  it.  Suppose 
such  a  man  should  say  that,  because  he  belonged  to  the  same  race 
with  those  who  were  bound  in  the  bonds  of  wedlock,  it  way  his 
privilege  to  express  the  sympathies  of  brotherhood,  and  expostu 
late  against  that  evil  institution  ;  nay,  that  he  was  enjoined  by  St. 
Paul  to  do  so  in  this  passage,  "  Remember  those  who  are  in  bonds, 


123  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

as  bound  with  them," — what  would  be  the  value  of  this  appeal  to 
St.  Paul  ?  But  the  very  word  he  uses,  in  the  passage  quoted,  is 
also  used,  almost  invariably,  in  the  gospels,  to  express  the  re 
straint  imposed  by  matrimony  ;  yet  it  is  never  used  to  express  any 
condition,  or  quality,  or  station,  in  regard  to  slavery. 

The  naked,  unadorned  proposition  presented  by  Dr.  Barnes  is, 
that,  because  St.  Paul  enjoined  the  Hebrew  Christians  to  sympa 
thize  with,  to  remember  all  those  who  were  labouring  under  perse 
cution  on  the  account  of  their  faith  in  Christ,  they  were  also 
bound  to  remember,  to  sympathize  with  the  slaves,  on  the  account 
of  their  being  in  slavery,  as  though  they  were  slaves  themselves. 
We  feel  that  such  argument  must  ever  be  abortive. 

From  the  delicacy  of  Dr.  Barnes's  situation,  as  "  belonging  to 
the  same  race  with  those  held  in  bondage,"  we  feel  it  a  duty  to 
treat  the  position  with  great  forbearance.  Had  it  come  from  one 
of  the  more  favoured  race  of  Shem,  or  the  still  more  lofty  race  of 
Japheth,  we  should  have  felt  it  an  equal  duty  to  have  animadverted 
with  some  severity. 

It  would  have  appeared  like  a  design  to  impose  on  those  igno 
rant  of  the  original ;  and  might  have  put  us  in  mind  of  the  cun 
ning  huckster,  with  his  basket  of  addled  eggs, — although  unex 
pectedly  broken  in  the  act  of  their  delivery  to  the  hungry  travel- 
le,r  ;  Jet  tae  incident  was  remembered  by  the  recorder  of  pro 
priety. 


LESSON  XII. 

ANTIOCH  is  said  to  have  been  the  birthplace  of  St.  Margaret,— 
of  which  there  are  many  legends,  to  one  of  which  we  allude.  It 
brings  to  mind  some  early  views  of  Christianity;  besides,  at  her 
time,  a  large  portion  of  the  population  of  Antioch  were  slaves,  and 
are  alluded  to  in  the  legend. 

She  was  the  daughter  of  the  priest  of  Apollo/  and  was  herself  a 
priestess  to  the  same  god.  She  is  said  to  have  lived  in  the  time  and 
under  the  authority  of  the  Prsefect  Olybius,  who  became  devoted  to 
her  mental  and  personal  accomplishments  and  very  great  beauty. 
He  is  said  to  have  sought  her  in  marriage,  and,  after  great  labour 
and  exertion,  to  have  brought  about  such  a  state  of  affairs  as  to 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


120 


insure  her  approval  and  consent.  But,  although  thus  the  affianced 
bride  of  Olybius,  by  some  means  she  had  held  intercommunion 
with  the  private  teachers  of  Christianity,  and  was  converted  to  it.s 
faith ;  a  fact  known  only  to  her  and  them. 

Upon  such  a  state  of  things,  arrives  from  Probus,  Rome's  im 
perial  lord,  Vopiscus,  charged  to  admonish  the  prsefect  how  famo 
bore  tidings  of  the  frequent  apostasy  from  the  true  religion  of 
the  gods,  and  the  increase  of  the  unholy  faith  of  the  Galileans  at 
Antioch ;  and  that  the  laws  were  made  to  be  executed  upon  the 
godless,  whose  wicked  and  incestuous  rites  offend  the  thousand 
deities  of  Rome. 

Olybius  well  knows  that  the  least  faltering  on  his  part  would 
probably  be  followed  by  his  being  shown  the  mandate  for  Vopiscus 
to  supersede  him  in  the  government ;  for  which  he  determines  to  not 
give  him  the  least  pretence :  hence  he  orders  the  immediate  arrest 
of  all  suspected ;  convenes  his  council  in  the  halls  of  justice,  and 
announces  thus  his  views  : 

"  Hear  me,  ye  priests  on  earth,  ye  gods  in  heaven! 
By  Vesta,  and  her  virgin-guarded  fires ; 
By  Mars,  the  sire  and  guardian  god  of  Rome  ; 
By  Antioch's  bright  Apollo  ;  by  the  throne 
Of  him  whos«  thunder  shakes  the  vaulted  skies  ; 
And  that  dread  oath  I  add,  that  binds  the  immortals, 
The  unblesssd  waters  of  Tartarean  Styx ; 
Last,  by  the  avenger  of  despised  vows, 
The  inevitable,  serpent  haired  Eumenides, 
Olybius  swears,  thus  m  anting  on  the  throne 
Of  justice,  to  exhaust  heaven's  wrath  on  all 
That  have  cast  off  their  fathers'  gods  for  rites 
New  and  unholy.     From  my  heart,  I  blot 
Partial  affection  and  the  love  of  kindred  ; 
Even  if  my  father's  blood  flowed  in  their  veins, 
I  would  obey  the  emperor  and  the  gods!" 

MlLLMAN. 

The  prisoners  are  ushered  in,  heard,  and  ordered  to 
death  ;  among  whom  a  female  veiled,  as  if  Phoebus-chosen  ! 


'What!  dare  they  rend  our  dedicated  maids, 
Even  from  our  altars  ?     Haste !  withdraw  the  veil, 
In  which  her  guilty  face  is  shrouded  close. 
Ha  !  their  magic  mocks  my  sight !     I  seem  to  see 

What  cannot  be Margarita  ! 

Answer,  if  thou  art  she !" 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


[is»  mind  was  agonized  at  the  thoughts  of  her  position  :  silently, 
to  himself,  he  says — 


-This  pale  and  false  Vopiscus 


Hath  from  great  Probus  wrung  his  easy  mandate ; 
Him  Asia  owns  her  prefect,  if  Olybius 
Obey  not  this  fell  edict."         * 

Much  art  and  great  argument  were  privately  used  to  produce 
her  recantation ;  to  which  she  calmly  answers— 


:  Who  disown  their  Lord 


On  earth,  will  He  disown  in  heaven !" 

*  *  *  Sent-  to  the  arena;  the  torture  and  execution  of  the 
prisoners  proceed,  according  to  the  order  of  their  arraignment.  The 
populace  become  enraged,  and  loudly  demand  the  blood  of  the 
apostate  priestess;  while  the  prefect,  in  his  palace,  digests  a 
plan  to  surely  save  her  life.  The  high-priest  of  Apollo,  her 
father,  in  his  robes  of  office  and  with  his  official  attendants,  must 
boldly  enter  the  arena,  and  offer  pardon,  in  the  name  of  his  god, 
to  any  one  who  utters  the  cabalistic  word  signifying  "I  RECANT;" 
must  hastily  apply  to  each  in  person ;  at  Margarita,  one  instructed 
must  imitate  her  voice ;  instantly  the  priest  is  to  throw  the  mantle 
of  the  god  upon  her ;  and  the  attendants,  by  force,  to  carry  her 
to  the  palace  of  Olybius,  where,  instead  of  her  execution,  her 
marriage  with  Olybius  is  to  take  place. 

The  procession  of  priests  (of  whom  none  but  her  father,  and  her 
sister  in  disguise  as  a  proxy  for  the  act  of  recantation,  knew  the 
secret)  are  urged  instantly  to  action  :  "  For,  says  Olybius,  "my  very 
soul  is  famished  in  every  moment  of  delay  !' 

The  procession  moves  in  all  pomp  and  splendour,  with  a  view  to 
produce  an  alterative  effect  on  the  mind  of  the  maddened  populace. 
Its  approach  to  the  arena  is  proclaimed  by  a  sentinel  there ',  on 
hearing  which,  Margarita  falls  at  the  feet  of  the  headsman,  and 
successfully  implores  instant  death,  that  her  father  may  be  spared 
the  misery  of  witnessing  it.  She  breathes  a  prayer  in  forgiveness 
of  Olybius,  and  receives  the  stroke  of  death  as  the  procession 
enters.  The  father  rages,  demands  torture  to  make  the  Christians 
say  how  they  enthralled  her  :  a  Christian  teacher  explains,  as  with 
"  a  still,  small  voice  ;"  the  priests  of  Apollo  listen  ! 

Rage  and  excitement  had  reached  the  utmost  bound.  There 
was  a  pause,  as  the  recess  between  two  raging  storms.  The  still 
ness  reached  even  the  palace,  and  reason  did  feel  as  if 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

"  There  was  darkness  over  all  the  land.     Olybius,  then  :— 
What  means  this  deathlike  stillness  ?     Not  a  sound 
Or  murmur,  from  yon  countless  multitudes ; 
A  pale,  contagious  horror  seems  to  creep 
Even  to  our  palace.     Men  gaze  mutely  round, 
As  in  their  neighbour's  face  to  read  a  secret 
They  dare  not  speak  themselves  : 
Even  thus,  along  his  vast  domains  of  silence, 
Dark  Pluto  gazes,  when  the  sullen  spirits 
Speak. only  with  fixed  look  and  voiceless  motion. 
'Tis  misery !     Speak ;  Olybius  orders ;  speak  to  me, 
*     Nor  let  mine  own  voice,  like  an  evil  omen, 
Load  this  hot  air  unanswered." 

A  messenger  announces  the  death  of  Margarita  ;  Olybius  rushes 
to  kill  him  ;  but,  recovering  self-command — 


:  Oh,  I'm  sick 


Of  this  accursed  pomp  :  I  will  not  use 
Its  privilege  of  revenge.     Fatal  trappings 
Of  proud  authority!     That     *     *     *     *     * 
*  f    shine  and  burn  into  the  very  entrails  ! 

Supremacy !  !  the  great  prerogative 
Of  being  blasted  by  superior  misery !" 

A  second  messenger  announces  that 

"  The  enchantress  Margarita,  by  her  death, 
Hath  wrought  upon  the  changeful  populace. 
That  they  cry  loudly  on  the  Christian's  God : 
Emboldened  multiutudes,  from  every  quarter, 
Throng  forth,  and  in  the  face  of  day  proclaim 
Their  lawless  faith.     They  have  taken  up  the  body, 
And  hither,  as  in  proud  ovation,  bear  it. 
With  clamour  and  with  song.     All  Antioch  crowds 
Applauding  round  them." 

We  are  favoured  only  with  the  song  of  the  slaves,  who,  upon 
that  holiday,  intermingled  in  the  throng  about  the  palace  of 
Olybius,  to  which  the  body  of  Margarita  has  been  borne ;  by  which 
we  may  perceive  how  Christianity  has  elevated  them  above 
thoughts  of  their  condition : 

SONG  OF  THE  SLAVES. 

Sing  to  the  Lord !  Oh,  let  us  shout  his  praise  ! 
More  lofty  pecans  let  our  masters  raise. 

Midst  clouds  of  golden  light,  a  pathway  clear, 
With  soaring  soul,  these  martyred  saints  have  trod 
To  Him,  the  only  true  Almighty  God ! 

Earth's  tumults  wild  and  pagan  darkness  drear, 
To  bonds  of  peace  and  songs  of  joy  give  way  : 
Behold !  we  bring  you  light — one  everlasting  day ! 


132  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

Sing  to  the  Lord !  No  more  shall  frantic  Sibyl's  yell, 
Watchful  Augurs,  or  those  of  magic  spell, 

No,  not  Isis,  nor  yet  Apollo's  throne, 
No,  nor  even  Death,  with  Lethean  bands, 
Shall  longer  bind  the  soul ;  before  us  stands 

Him  of  the  Cross  of  Calvary : — His  groan 
Of  death  burst  forth  from  its  eternal  womb, 
While  angel  spirits  shout,  and  open  wide  the  tomb ! 

Sing  to  the  Lord !  The  Temple's  veil  is  rent ! 
From  Moab's  plains,  the  Slave,  an  outcast,  sent 

From  this  cold  world  shall,  soaring,  fly  to  heaven, 
From  depths  of  Darkness,  Night,  and  Orcus  dread. 
Each  spirit  woke  at  the  Eternal's  tread 

On  the  head  of  Death  !  a  promise  given 
To  all  Earth's  houseless,  homeless,  and  forlorn, 
Before  the  Ages  were — or  His  Eldest  Son  was  born ! 

Sing  to  the  Lord !  Lo  !  while  God's  rebels  rave, 
He  plunges  down,  and  renovates  the  slave — 

Vengeance  and  love  at  once  bestowed  on  man. 
See !  crushed  is  Baal's,  proud  Moloch's  temple  falls  ; 
Shout  to  the  Lord  !  No  more  shall  blood-stained  walls, 

Nor  mountain  grove,  nor  all  the  gods  of  Ham, 
Dispel  a  Saviour's  love  !  Correction's  rod 
Hath  won  the  world, — for  Heaven  and  Thee,  0  God ! 

It  is  one  of  the  providences  of  Jehovah,  that  the  very  wretched 
forget  their  wrath,  and  the  broken  in  spirit  their  violence.  And 
it  may  be  well  for  those  who  examine  moral  conduct  by  the  evi 
dences  of  the  providences  of  God,  to  notice  how  wrath  conduces 
to  wretchedness,  and  violence  to  a  breaking  down  of  the  spirit. 

Olybius  was  by  no  means  prepared  to  adopt  the  humiliating 
doctrines  of  the  new  faith  ;  but  he  perceived  it  to-be  well  adapted 
to  the  condition  of  those  in  the  extremely  low  walks  of  life.  By 
it  the  slave  was  taught  to  become  "  the  freeman  of  the  Lord,"  and 
the  wretched,  destitute,  and  miserable,  to  become  "heirs  of  God, 
and  j  )int-heirs  with  Christ."  These  doctrines,  and  the  whole  sys 
tem,  being  founded  upon  the  pillars  of  Humility,  Faith,  Hope, 
and  Charity,  were  an  arrangement  to  make  the  most  humble  as 
happy  as  the  most  exalted ;  as  to  happiness  and  hopes  of  heaven, 
it  made  all  men  equal;  nor  is  it  surprising  that  the  low  classes 
more  readily  become  its  converts. 

Olybius  may  have  seen  some  beautiful  features  in  this  system  ; 
but  his  philosophy  forbid  his  faith.  lie  calmly  decided  that  it  was 
a  superstition  too  low  to  combat — worthy  only  of  contempt.  But 
he  perceived  that  the  blood  of  a  hundred  made  a  thousand  Chris- 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  133 

tians,  and  was  convinced  the  only  remedy  was  to  improve  and 
elevate  the  mind, — to  imbue  it  with  deep  religious  feeling  and  prin 
ciple,  a  reverence  and  veneration  for  the  gods. 

He  deeply  felt  the  wound  inflicted  by  the  presence  of  Vopiscus, 
and  would  gladly  have  proved  to  the  emperor  that  change  of 
government,  either  as  to  ruler  or  its  general  system,  could  not  affect 
the  condition  of  this  new  doctrine.  But  he  had  no  knowledge  of 
the  Christian's  God,  nor  of  his  attributes  as  a  distinct  Being ;  and 
hence,  although  he  may  be  regarded  as  a  most  deadly  enemy,  yet, 
since  the  providences  of  Jehovah,  through  the  mild  light  of  the 
gospel,  begin  to  develop  themselves  to  the  human  understanding, 
we  may  deem  his  report  to  the  emperor,  on  the  Christian  super 
stition,  to  be  ONE  OF  ITS  MOST  UNDYING  PANEGYRICS  ;  as  an  ex 
tract  from  which,  we  may  well  imagine,  he  wrote  thus : — 

Olybius  to  the  Emperor  Probus. 

*  *  *  «  Great  reforms  on  moral  subjects  do  not  occur,  ex 
cept  under  the  influence  of  religious  principle.  Political  revolu 
tions  and  changes  of  policy  and  administration  do  indeed  occur 
from  other  causes,  and  secure  the  ends  which  are  desired.  But, 
on  subjects  pertaining  to  right  and  wrong ;  on  those  questions 
where  the  rights  of  an  inferior  and  down-trodden  class  are  con 
cerned,  we  can  look  for  little  advance,  except  from  the  operation 
of  religious  principle. 

"  Unless  the  inferior  classes  have  power  to  assert  their  rights  by 
arms,  those  rights  will  be  conceded  only  by  the  operations  of  con 
science  and  the  principles  of  religion.  There  is  no  great  wrong 
in  any  community  which  we  can  hope  to  rectify  by  new  considera 
tions  of  policy,  or  by  a  mere  revolution.  The  relations  of  Chris 
tianity  are  not  reached  by  political  revolutions,  or  by  changes  of 
policy  or  administration. 

"  Political  revolutions  occur  in  a  higher  region,  and  the  condi 
tion  of  the  Christian  is  no  more  affected  by  a  mere  change  of 
government,  than  that  of  the  vapours  of  a  low,  marshy  vale  is 
affected  by  the  tempest  and  storm  in  the  higher  regions  of  the  air. 
The  storm  sweeps  along  the  Apennines,  the  lightnings  play,  and 
the  thunders  utter  their  voice,  but  the  malaria  of  the  Campagna 
is  unaffected,  arid  the  pestilence  breathes  desolation  there  still. 
So  it  is  with  Christianity.  Political  revolutions  occur  in  higher 
places,  but  the  malaria  of  Christianity  remains  settled  down  on 
the  low  plains  of  life,  and  not  even  the  surface  of  the  pestilential 


134  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

vapour  is  agitated  by  all  the  storms  and  tempests  of  political 
changes;  it  remains  the  same  deadly,  pervading  pestilence  still. 
Under  all  the  forms  of  despotism ;  in  the  government  of  aristo 
cracy,  or  an  oligarchy ;  under  the  administration  of  a  pure  demo 
cracy,  or  the  forms  of  a  republican  government ;  and  in  all  the 
changes  from  one  to  the  other,  Christianity  remains  still  the  same. 
Whether  the  prince  is  hurled  from  the  throne,  or  rides  into  power 
on  the  tempest  of  revolution,  the  down-trodden  Christian  is  the 
same  still : — and  it  makes  no  difference  to  him  whether  the  prince 
wears  a  crown,  or  appears  in  a  plain,  republican  garb, — '  whether 
Caesar  is  on  the  throne,  or  slain  in  the  senate-house.' " 

In  these  imputed  sentiments  of  Olybius,  the  indications  of  the 
will  of  Jehovah,  in  establishing  and  protecting  the  institutions  of 
Christianity,  by  his  providences  towards  it,  is  vividly  portrayed  to 
the  Christian  eye.  Jehovah  would  not  suffer  "  the  gates  of  hell 
to  prevail  against  it."  Of  the  very  materials  intended  by  its  ene 
mies  for  its  destruction,  he  made  them  build  its  throne. 

The  scene,  by  which  we  have  introduced  this  imaginary  report 
of  Olybius  to  the  emperor,  has  been  merely  to  remove  from  the 
mind  any  bias  tending  to  a  partial  conception  of  the  indications 
of  the  will  of  Grod,  as  evinced  by  his  providences  therein  described, 
that  we  may  more  readily  discover  the  fact,  that,  instead  of  show 
ing  Christianity  to  be  worthy  only  of  contempt,  Olybius  did  pro 
nounce  its  eulogium.  m 

Change  the  words  Christian  and  Christianity  into  slave  and 
slavery  ;  prince  into  master,  and  it  then  is  what  Mr.  Barnes  did 
say,  and  has  said,  (pages  25,  26,  27,)  word  for  word,  about  the  in 
stitution  of  slavery ;  and,  as  if  desirous  to  portray  the  providences 
of  God  towards  it  down  to  the  present  time,  continuously  says. 
See  pages  27  and  28— 

"  Slavery  among  the  Romans  remained  substantially  the  same 
under  the  Tarquins,  the  consuls,  and  the  Caesars ;  when  the  tri 
bunes  gained  the  ascendency,  and  when  the  patricians  crushed 
them  to  the  earth.  It  lived  in  Europe  when  the  northern  hordes 
poured  down  on  the  Roman  Empire  ;  and  when  the  caliphs  set  up 
the  standard  of  Islam  in  the  Peninsula.  It  lived  in  all  the  revo 
lutions  of  the  Middle  Ages, — alike,  when  spiritual  despotism 
swayed  its  sceptre  over  the  nations,  and  when  they  began  to  emerge 
into  freedom.  In  the  British  realms,  it  has  lived  in  the  time  of  the 
Stuarts,  under  the  Protectorate,  and  for  a  long  time  under  the 
administration  of  the  house  of  Hanover.  With  some  temporary 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  135 


interruptions,  it  lived  in  the  provinces  of  France  through  the  revo 
lution.  It  lived  through  our  own  glorious  Revolution ;  and  the 
struggles  which  gave  liberty  to  millions  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race 
did  not  loosen  one  rivet  from  the  fetters  of  an  African,  nor  was 
there  a  slave  who  was  any  nearer  to  the  enjoyment  of  freedom 
after  the  surrender  of  Yorktown,  than  when  Patrick  Henry  taught 
the  notes  of  liberty  to  echo  along  the  hills  and  vales  of  Virginia. 
So  in  all  changes  of  political  administration  in  our  own  land,  the 
condition  of  the  slave  remains  unaffected.  Alike  whether  the 
Federalists  or  Republicans  have  the  rule ;  whether  the  star  of  the 
Whig  or  the  Democrat  is  in  the  ascendant;  the  condition  of  the 
slave  is  still  the  same.  The  paeans  of  victory,  when  the  hero  of 
New  Orleans  was  raised  to  the  presidential  chair,  or  when  the 
hero  of  Tippecanoe  was  inaugurated,  conveyed  no  *  *  *  in 
timation  of  a  change  to  the  slave  ;  nor  had  he  any  more  hope,  nor 
was  his  condition  any  more  aifected,  when  the  one  gave  place  to 
his  successor,  or  the  other  was  borne  to  the  grave.  And  so  it  is 
now.  In  all  the  fierce  contests  for  rule  in  the  land ;  in  the  ques 
tions  about  changes  in  the  administration,  there  are  nearly  three 
millions  of  our  fellow-beings,  who  have  no  interest  in  these  con- 
testa  and  questions,  and  whose  condition  will  be  affected  no  more, 
whatever  the  result  may  be,  than  the  vapour  that  lies  in  the  valley 
is  by  the  changes  from  sunshine  to  storm  on  the  summits  of  the 
Alps  or  the  Andes." 

This  may  be  all  true,  but  what  is  the  indication  of  God's  will, 
as  taught  by  these,  his  providences  towards  it  ?  "  And  now  I  say 
unto  you  refrain  from  these  men,  and  let  them  alone  ;  for  if  this 
counsel  or  this  work  be  of  men,  it  will  come  to  nought ;  but  if  it 
be  of  God,  ye  cannot  overthrow  it ;  lest  haply  ye  be  found  even  to 
fight  against  God."  Acts  v.  38,  39. 


136  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


LESSON  XIII. 

THUS,  it  has  pleased  God,  at  an  early  age  of  the  world,  to  reveal 
to  the  mind  of  man  this  mode  of  learning  his  will  by  the  indica 
tions  of  Providence. 

But  Mr.  Barnes  has  given  us  further  data,  whereby  we  may  be 
enabled  to  examine  more  deeply  into  the  indications  of  God's  will 
touching  the  institution  of  slavery,  by  reference  to  his  providences 
concerning  it,  growing  out  of  the  universality  and  ancientness  of 
the  institution.  Thus,  page  112,  he  says — "  That  slavery  had  an 
existence  when  Moses  undertook  the  task  of  legislating  for  the 
Hebrews,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  We  have  seen  that  servitude 
of  some  kind  prevailed  among  the  patriarchs ;  tha.t  the  traffic  in 
slaves  was  carried  on  between  the  Midianites  and  the  Egyptians, 
*  *  *  and  that  it  existed  among  the  Egyptians.  It  was  un 
doubtedly  practised  by  all  the  surrounding  nations,  for  history 
does  not  point  us  to  a  time  when  slavery  did  not  exist.  *  *  * 
There  is  even  evidence  that  slavery  was  practised  by  the  Hebrews 
themselves,  when  in  a  state  of  bondage ;  and  that  though  they 
were  as  a  nation  4  bondmen  to  Pharaoh,'  yet  they  had  servants  in 
their  families  who  had  been  <  bought  with  money.'  *  *  *  At 
the  very  time  that  the  law  was  given  respecting  the  observance  of 
the  passover,  and  before  the  exode  from  Egypt,  this  statute  ap 
pears  among  others :  '  This  is  the  ordinance  of  the  passover  : 
there  shall  no  stranger  eat  thereof:  but  every  man-servant,  that  is 
bought  for  money,  when  thou  hast  circumcised  him,  then  shall  he 
eat  thereof.'  It  is  clear,  from  this,  that  the  institution  was  always 
in  existence,  and  that  Moses  did  not  originate  it."  Again,  page 
117:  "A  Hebrew  might  be  sold  to  his  brethren  if  he  had  been 
detected  in  the  act  of  theft,  and  had  no  means  of  making  restitu 
tion  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  law.  Exod.  xxii.  3.  *  He 
shall  make  full  restitution ;  if  he  have  nothing,  then  he  shall  be 
sold  for  his  theft.' '  "  This  is  in  accordance  with  the  common 
legal  maxim,  Luat  in  corpore,  qui  non  Jiabet  in  acre.  The  same 
law  prevailed  among  the  Egyptians,  and  among  the  Greeks  also 
till  the  time  of  Solon.  *  *  *  By  the  laws  of  the  twelve 
tables,  the  same  thing  was  enacted  at  Rome.  A  native-born  He- 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


brew  might  be  a  servant  in  a  single  case  in  virtue  of  his  birth. 
If  the  master  had  given  to  a  Hebrew,  whom  he  had  purchased,  a 
wife,  and  she  had  borne  him  children  ;  the  children  were  to  re 
main  in  servitude."  See  Exod.  xxi.  4.  Again,  page  250:  "It  is 
unnecessary  to  enter  into  proof  that  slavery  abounded  in  the 
Roman  Empire,  or  that  the  conditions  of  servitude  were  very 
severe  and  oppressive.  This  is  conceded  on  all  hands."  And 
page  251  :  "  Slavery  existed  generally  throughout  the  Roman 
Empire  was  very  great."  *  *  *  Page  252:  "  Of  course,  ac 
cording  to  this,  the  number  of  slaves  could  not  have  been  less  than 
sixty  millions  in  the  Roman  Empire,  at  about  the  time  when  the 
apostles  went  forth  to  preach  the  gospel."  And  again,  page  253: 
"  The  slave-trade  in  Africa  is  as  old  as  history  reaches  back. 
Among  the  ruling  nations  of  the  north  coast,  the  Egyptians, 
Cyrenians,  and  Carthaginians,  slavery  was  not  only  established, 
but  they  imported  whole  armies  of  slaves,  partly  for  home  use,  and 
partly,  at  least  by  the  Carthaginians,  to  be  shipped  for  foreign 
markets." 

"  They  were  chiefly  drawn  from  the  interior,  where  kidnapping 
was  just  as  much  carried  on  then  as  now.  Black  male  and  female 
slaves  were  even  an  article  of  luxury,  not  only  among  the  above- 
named  nations,  but  in  Greece  and  Italy." 

Mr.  Barnes  has  quoted  and  adopted  the  foregoing,  and  many 
other  passages,  from  the  Biblical  Repository.  (See  Bib.  Rep.  pp. 
413,  414.)  And  again,  page  259  of  Barnes:  *  *  *  "  And  it 
is  a  rare  thing,  perhaps  a  thing  that  never  has  occurred,  that 
slavery  did  not  prevail  in  a  country  which  furnished  slaves  for 
another  country." 

Many  of  the  foregoing  statements  are  facts  as  well  established 
as  any  part  of  history.  But  these  truths,  honestly  admitted  by 
Mr.  Barnes,  are  pregnant  with  important  considerations  touching 
the  institution  of  slavery  and  the  providence  of  God  towards  it. 


138  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


LESSON  XIV. 

MR.  BARNES  says,  page  381 — 

"  If  slavery  is  to  be  defended,  it  is  not  to  be  by  arguments  drawn 
from  the  Bible,  but  by  arguments  drawn  from  its  happy  influences 
on  agriculture,  commerce,  and  the  arts ;  *  *  *  on  its  elevating 
the  black  man,  and  making  him  more  intelligent  and  happy  than 
he  would  be  in  his  own  land ;  on  its  whole  benevolent  bearing  on 
the  welfare  of  the  slave,  in  this  world  and  the  world  to  come." 

It  must  give  every  good  man  the  deepest  grief  to  discover  this 
growing  disposition  among  religious  teachers  to  thrust  aside  the 
teachings  of  the  Bible,  and  to  place  in  its  stead  the  worldly  advan 
tages  and  personal  considerations  of  individual  benefit.  What 
shall  we  think  of  the  religious  feeling  and  orthodoxy  of  him  who 
places  "  agriculture,  commerce,  and  the  arts"  in  higher  authority 
than  the  books  of  Divine  revelation.  Thus,  this  teacher  says, 
"  If  the  Bible  teaches  slavery,  then  the  Bible  is  the  greatest  curse 
that  could  happen  to  our  race;'  yet  allows,  that  if  slavery  shall 
have  a  beneficial  and  happy  influence  on  "  agriculture,  commerce, 
and  the  arts,"  it  may  be  sustained  and  defended.  Such  is  the 
obvious  deduction  from  the  proposition !  Mistaken  man  !  But, 
since  we  say  that  slavery  is  most  triumphantly  sustained  and  de 
fended  by  the  Bible,  let  us  take  a  view  of  it  agreeably  to  Mr. 
Barnes's  direction.  So  far  as  we  have  means,  it  may  be  well  to 
examine  the  negro  in  his  native  ranges. 

About  thirty  years  ago,  we  had  a  knowledge  of  an  African  slave, 
the  property  of  Mr.  Bookter,  of  St.  Helena  Parish,  La.  Sedgjo 
was  apparently  about  sixty  years  of  age — was  esteemed  to  be 
unusually  intelligent  for  an  African.  We  propose  to  give  the  sub 
stance  of  his  narrative,  without  regard  to  his  language  or  manner. 
For  a  length  of  time  we  made  it  an  object  to  draw  out  his  know 
ledge  and  notions ;  and  on  the  subject  of  the  Deity,  his  idea  was 
that  the  power  which  made  him  was  procreation  ;  and  that,  as  far 
as  regarded  his  existence,  he  needed  not  to  care  for  any  other  god. 
This  deity  was  to  be  worshipped  by  whatever  act  would  represent 
him  as  procreator.  It  need  not  be  remarked  that  this  worship 
was  the  extreme  of  indecency ;  but  the  more  the  act  of  worship 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

was  wounding  to  the  feelings  or  sense  of  delicacy,  the  more  ac 
ceptable  it  was  to  the  god.  The  displays  of  this  worship  could 
not  well  be  described. 

Sedgjo's  account  put  us  in  mind  of  Maachah,  the  mother  of  Asa. 
In  this  worship,  it  was  not  uncommon  to  kill,  roast,  and  eat  young 
children,  with  the  view  to  propitiate  the  god,  and  make  its  parents 
prolific.  So  also  the  first-born  of  a  mother  was  sometimes  killed 
and  eaten,  in  thankfulness  to  the  god  for  making  them  the  instru 
ments  of  its  procreation.  The  king  was  the  owner  and  master  of 
the  whole  tribe.  He  might  kill  and  do  what  else  he  pleased  with 
them.  The  whole  tribe  was  essentially  his  slaves.  But  he  usually 
made  use  of  them  as  a  sort  of  soldiers.  Those  who  were  put  to 
death  at  feasts  and  sacrifices  were  generally  persons  captured  from 
other  tribes.  Persons  captured  were  also  slaves,  might  be  killed 
and  eaten  on  days  of  sacrifice,  or  sold  and  carried  away  to  un 
known  countries.  If  one  was  killed  in  battle,  and  fell  into  the 
hands  of  those  who  slew  him,  they  feasted  on  him  at  night.  If 
they  captured  one  alive  who  had  done  the  tribe  great  injury,  a  day 
was  set  apart  for  all  the  tribe  to  revenge  themselves  and  feast  on 
him.  The  feet  and  palms  of  the  hands  were  the  most  delicious 
parts.  When  the  king  or  master  died,  some  of  his  favourite  wives 
and  other  slaves  were  put  to  death,  so  that  he  yet  should  have  their 
company  and  services.  The  king  and  the  men  of  the  tribe  seldom 
cultivated  the  land ;  but  the  women  and  captured  slaves  are  the 
cultivators.  They  never  whip  a  slave,  but  strike  him  with  a  club ; 
sometimes  break  his  bones  or  kill  him :  if  they  kill  him,  they  eat 
him. 

Sedgjo  belonged  to  the  king's  family ;  sometimes  commanded  as 
head  man ;  consequently,  had  he  not  been  sold,  would  have  been 
killed  and  eaten.  The  idea  of  being  killed  and  eaten  was  not  very 
dreadful  to  him ;  he  had  rather  be  eaten  by  men  than  to  have  the 
flies  eat  him. 

He  once  thought  white  men  bought  slaves  to  eat,  as  they  did 
goats.  When  he  first  saw  the  white  man,  he  was  afraid  of  his  red 
lips ;  he  thought  they  were  raw  flesh  and  sore.  It  was  more  fright 
ful  to  be  eaten  by  red  than  by  black  lips. 

On  shipboard,  many  try  to  starve,  or  jump  into  the  sea,  to  keep 
themselves  from  being  eaten  by  the  red-lips.  Did  they  but  know 
what  was  wanted  of  them,  the  most  would  be  glad  to  come.  He 
cannot  tell  how  long  he  was  on  the  way  to  the  ships,  nor  did  ho 
know  where  he  was  going ;  thinks  he  was  sold  many  times  before 


140  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

lie  got  there ;  never  saw  the  white  man  till  he  was  near  the  sea  ; 
all  the  latter  part  of  his  journey  to  the  coast  the  people  did  not 
kill  or  eat  their  slaves,  but  sold  them.  Their  clothing  is  a  small 
cloth  about  the  loins.  The  king  and  some  others  have  a  large  cloth 
about  the  shoulders.  Many  are  entirely  naked  all  their  lives. 
Sedgjo  has  no  wish  to  go  back ;  has  better  clothing  here  than  the 
kings  have  there ;  if  he  does  more  work,  he  has  more  meat.  If  he 
is  whipped  here,  he  is  struck  with  a  club  there.  There,  always 
afraid  of  being  killed ;  jumped  like  a  deer,  if,  out  of  the  village,  he 
saw  or  met  a  stranger ;  is  very  glad  he  came  here ;  here  he  is  afraid 
of  nobody. 

Such  is  the  substance  of  what  came  from  the  negro's  own  lips. 
It  was  impossible  to  learn  from  him  his  distinct  nation  or  tribe. 
Mr.  Bookter  thought  him  an  Eboe,  which  was  probably  a  mistake. 

The  Periplus,  or  voyage  of  Hanno,  was  made  570  years  before 
the  Christian  era.  Its  account  was  written  in  Punic,  and  deposited 
in  the  temple  of  Moloch,  at  Carthage.  It  was  afterwards  translated 
into  Greek ;  and  thence  into  English,  by  Dr.  Faulkner,  a  sketch 
of  which  may  be  found  in  the  "  Phoenix  of  Rare  Fragments,"  from 
which  we  quote,  pp.  208-210 : 

"Beyond  the  Lixitiae  dwell  the  inhospitable  Ethiopians,  who 
pasture  a  wild  country,  intersected  by  large  mountains,  from 
which  they  say  the  river  Lixus  flows.  In  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  mountains  lived  the  l  Troglodyte, '  (people  who  burrowed  in  the 
earth,)  men  of  various  appearance,  whom  the  Lixitiae  described  as 
swifter  in  running  than  horses.  *  *  *  Thence  we  proceeded 
towards  the  east  the  course  of  a  day,  *  *  *  from  which  pro 
ceeding  a  day's  sail,  we  came  to  the  extremity  of  the  lake,  that 
was  overhung  by  large  mountains,  inhabited  by  savage  men  clothed 
in  skins  of  wild  beasts,  who  drove  us  away  by  throwing  stones,  and 
hindered  us  from  landing.  *  *  *  Thence  we  sailed  towards 
the  south  twelve  days,  *  *  *  the  whole  of  which  is  inhabited 
by  Ethiopians,  who  would  not  wait  our  approach,  but  fled  from  us. 
Their  language  was  not  intelligible,  even  to  the  Lixitiae  who  were 
with  us.  *  *  *  When  we  had  landed,  we  could  discover  nothing 
in  the  daytime  except  trees  ;  in  the  night  we  saw  many  fires  burn 
ing,  and  heard  the  sound  of  pipes,  cymbals,  drums,  and  confused 
shouts.  We  were  then  afraid,  and  our  diviners  ordered  us  to  aban 
don  the  island  j  *  *  *  at  the  bottom  of  which  lay  an  island 
like  the  other,  having  a  lake,  and  in  this  lake  another  island,  full 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  141 

of  savage  people,  the  greater  part  of  whom  were  women,  whose 
bodies  were  hairy,  and  whom  our  interpreters  called  Crorillce. 
Though  we  pursued  the  men,  we  could  not  seize  any  of  them ;  all 
fled  from  us,  escaping  over  the  precipices,  and  defending  them 
selves  with  stones.  Three  women  were  however  taken ;  but  they 
attacked  their  conductors  with  their  teeth  and  hands,  and  could 
not  be  prevailed  on  to  accompany  us.  Having  killed  them,  we 
flayed  them,  and  brought  their  skins  with  us  to  Carthage." 

See  also  King  Humpsal's  History  of  African  Settlements,  trans 
lated  from  the  Punic  books,  by  Sallust  and  into  English  by  H. 
Stewart,  page  221 : 

"  The  Gsetuli  and  the  Libyans,  as  it  appears,  were  the  first  nations 
that  peopled  Africa ;  a  rude  and  savage  race,  subsisting  partly  on 
the  flesh  of  wild  beasts,  and  partly,  like  cattle,  on  the  herbs  of  the 
field.  Among  these  tribes  social  intercourse  was  unknown  ;  and 
they  were  utter  strangers  to  laws,  or  to  civil  government ;  wander 
ing  during  the  day  from  place  to  place,  as  inclination  prompted ; 
at  night,  wherever  chance  conducted  them  they  took  up  their 
transient  habitation."  See  page  224,  same  book :  "  At  the  back  of 
Numidia,  the  Gsetuli  are  reported  to  inhabit,  a  savage  tribe,  of 
which  a  part  only  made  use  of  huts  ;  while  the  rest,  less  civilized, 
lead  a  roving  life,  without  restraint  or  fixed  habitation.  Beyond 
the  Gsetuli  is  the  country  of  the  Ethiopians." 

In  Judg.  iii.  7,  8,  we  have  as  follows  :  "And  the  children  of 
Israel  did  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  forgot  the  Lord  their 
God.  *  *  *  Therefore  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was  hot  against 
Israel,  and  he  sold  them  into  the  hand  of  Chusan  Rishatliaim, 
(D'Hi^")  j£v?O)  which,  means  the  "ivicked  Ethiopians."  Let 
us  notice  its  similarity  of  sentiment  with  a  record  in  hieroglyphics, 
in  the  temple  of  Karnac,  where  Oush  is  used  as  the  general  term 
to  mean  the  negro. tribes:  thus,  "KusJi,  barbarian,  perverse  race;" 
and  there  inscribed  over  the  figures  of  negro  captives,  two  thou 
sand  years  before  our  Christian  era.  See  Gliddon's  Lectures, 
page  42. 

We  quote  from  Home's  "  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the 
Scriptures,"  thus:  "It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  these  latter"  (the 
Canaanites)  "  were  an  abominably  wicked  people." 

"  It  is  needless  to  enter  into  any  proof  of  the  depraved  state  of 
their  morals  ;  they  were  a  wicked  people  in  the  time  of  Abraham ; 
and  even  then  were  devoted  to  destruction  by  God.  But  their 
iniquity  was  not  yet  full.  In  the  time  of  Moses,  they  were  idola- 


142  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 

ters  ;  sacrificers  of  their  own  crying  and  smiling  infants  ;  devourers 
of  human  flesh ;  addicted  to  unnatural  lusts ;  immersed  in  the 
Pithiness  of  all  manner  of  vice."  See  Christian  Observer  of  1819, 
p.  732. 

But  let  us  look  at  the  negro  tribes  in  more  modern  days.  We 
quote  from  Lander,  p.  58 :  "  What  makes  us  more  desirous  to 
leave  this  abominable  place,  is  the  fact  (as  we  have  been  told)  that  a 
sacrifice  of  no  less  than  three  hundred  human  beings,  of  both 
sexes  and  all  ages,  is  shortly  to  take  place.  We  often  hear  the 
cries  of  many  of  these  poor  wretches  ;  and  the  heart  sickens  with 
horror  at  the  bare  contemplation  of  such  a  scene  as  awaits  us 
should  we  remain  here  much  longer." 

And  page  74 :  "  We  have  longed  to  discover  a  solitary  virtue 
lingering  among  the  natives  of  this  place,  (Badagry,)  but  as  yet 
our  search  has  been  ineffectual." 

And  page  77  :  "We  have  met  with  nothing  but  selfishness  and 
rapacity,  from  the  chief  to  the  meanest  of  his  people.  The  religion 
of  Badagry  is  Mohammedanism,  and  the  worst  species  of  paganism ; 
that  which  sanctions  and  enjoins  the  sacrifice  of  human  beings,  and 
other  abominable  practices,  and  the  worship  of  imaginary  demons 
and  fiends." 

Page  110:  "It  is  the  custom  here,  when  a  governor  dies,  for 
two  of  his  favourite  wives  to  quit  the  world  on  the  same  day,  in 
order  that  he  may  have  a  little  pleasant,  social  company  in  a  future 
state." 

Page  111 :  "  The  reason  of  our  not  meeting  with  a  better  recep 
tion  at  Loatoo,  when  we  slept  there,  was  the  want  of  a  chief  to 
that  town,  the  last  having  followed  the  old  governor  to  the  eternal 
shades,  for  he  was  his  slave.  Widows  are  burned  in  India,  just  as 
they  are  poisoned  or  clubbed  here ;  but  in  the  former  country,  I 
believe  no  male  victims  are  destroyed  on  such  occasions." 

"  At  Paoya,  (page  124,)  several  chiefs  in  the  road  have  asked 
us  the  reason  why  the  Portuguese  do  not  purchase  as  many  slaves 
as  formerly ;  and  make  very  sad  complaints  of  the  stagnation  in 
this  branch  of  traffic." 

Page  158  :  "  At  Leograda,  a  man  thinks  as  little  of  taking  a 
wife  as  cutting  an  ear  of  corn.  Affection  is  altogether  out  of  the 
question." 

Page  160  :  "At  Eitcho,  it  will  scarcely  be  believed,  that  not  less 
than  one  hundred  and  sixty  governors  of  towns  and  villages  between 
this  place  and  the  seacoast,  all  belonging  to  Yariba,  have  died  from 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  143 

natural  causes,  or  have  been  slain  in  war,  since  I  was  last  hsre  ; 
and  that  of  the  inhabited  places  through  which  we  have  passed,  not 
more  than  a  half-dozen  chiefs  are  alive  at  this  moment,  who  re 
ceived  and  entertained  me  on  my  return  to  Badagry,  three  years 
ago." 

Page  176  :  "  They  seem  to  have  no  social  tenderness  ;  very  few 
of  those  amiable  private  virtues  which  would  win  our  affection,  and 
none  of  those  public  qualities  that  claim  respect  or  command  admi 
ration.  Their  love  of  country  is  not  strong  enough  in  their  bosoms 
to  incite  them  to  defend  it  against  the  irregular  incursions  of  a 
despicable  foe.  *  *  *  Regardless  of  the  past  as  reckless  of 
the  future ;  the  present  alone  influences  their  actions.  In  this 
respect  they  approach  nearer  to  the  brute  creation  than  perhaps 
any  other  people  on  the  face  of  the  globe." 

Page  181 :  "In  so  large  a  place  as  this,  where  two-thirds  of  the 
population  are  slaves."  *  *  * 

Page  192 :  "  The  cause  of  it  was  soon  explained  by  his  inform 
ing  us  that  he  would  be  doomed  to  die  with  two  companions, 
(slaves,)  as  soon  as  their  governor's  dissolution  should  take  place." 

Page  227  :  "  In  the  forenoon  we  passed  near  a  spot  where  our 
guides  informed  us  a  party  of  Falatahs,  a  short  time  ago,  murdered 
twenty  of  their  slaves,  because  they  had  not  food  sufficient,"  &c. 

Page  232:  "At  Coobly,  he  would  rather  have  given  us  a  boy 
(slave)  instead  of  the  horse." 

Page  233  :  "  Monday,  June  14th. — The  governor's  old  wife  re 
turned  from  Boossa  this  morning,  whither  she  had  gone  in  quest 
of  three  female  slaves  who  had  fled  from  her  about  a  fortnight 
since.  She  has  brought  her  fugitives  back  with  her,  and  they 
are  now  confined  in  irons." 

Page  272 :  "  Both  these  days  the  men  have  been  entering  the 
city ;  and  they  have  brought  with  them  only  between  forty  and 
fifty  slaves." 

Page  278  :  "  The  chief  benefits  resulting  to  Bello  from  the  suc 
cess  of  the  rebels,  were  a  half-yearly  tribute,  which  the  magia 
agreed  to  pay  him  in  slaves." 

Page  282:  "At  Yaooris. — And  many  thousands  of  his  men, 
fearing  no  law,  and  having  no  ostensible  employment,  are  scattered 
over  the  face  of  the  whole  country.  They  commit  all  sorts  of 
crimes ;  they  plunder,  they  burn,  they  destroy,  and  even  murder, 
and  are  not  accountable  to  any  earthly  tribunal  for  their  actions." 

Page  312 :  "At  Boossa. — The  manners  of  the  Africans  too,  are 


144  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

nostile  to  the  interest  and  advancement  of  woman,  and  she  is  very 
rarely  placed  on  an  equality  with  her  husband." 

Page  228  :  "  A  man  is  at  liberty  to  return  his  wife  to  her  parents 
at  any  time,  and  without  adducing  any  reason." 

Page  345  :  "  The  Sheikh  of  Bornou  has  recently  issued  a  procla 
mation,  that  no  slaves  from  the  interior  countries  are  to  be  sent  for 
sale  farther  west  than  Wowow, — so  that  none  will  be  sent  in  future 
from  thence  to  the  seaside.  The  greatest  and  most  profitable 
market  for  slaves  is  said  to  be  at  Timbuctoo,  whither  their  owners 
at  present  transport  them  to  sell  to  the  Arabs,  who  take  them 
over  the  deserts  of  Tahara  and  Libya  to  sell  in  the  Barbary  States. 
An  Arab  has  informed  us  that  many  of  his  countrymen  trade  as 
far  as  Turkey,  in  Europe,  with  their  slaves,  where  they  dispose  of 
them  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  each.  *  *  *  Perhaps 
it  would  be  speaking  within  compass  to  say  that  four-fifths  of  the 
whole  population  of  this  country,  (the  Eboe,)  likewise  every  other 
hereabouts,  are  slaves." 

Vol.,  ii.  page  208  :  "  It  may  appear  strange  that  I  should  dwell 
so  long  on  this  subject,  for  it  seems  quite  natural  that  every  one, 
even  the  most  thoughtless  barbarian,  would  feel  at  least  some  slight 
emotion  on  being  exiled  from  his  native  land  and  enslaved ;  but  so 
far  is  this  from  being  the  case,  that  Africans,  generally  speaking, 
betray  the  most  perfect  indifference  on  losing  their  liberty  and 
being  deprived  of  their  relatives ;  while  love  of  country  is  seem 
ingly  as  great  a  stranger  to  their  breasts  as  social  tenderness  and 
domestic  affection.  We  have  seen  many  thousands  of  slaves; 
some  of  them  more  intelligent  than  others ;  but  the  poor  little  fat 
woman  whom  I  have  mentioned, — the  associate  of  beasts  and  wal 
lowing  in  filth, — whose  countenance  would  seem  to  indicate  only 
listnessness,  stupidity,  and  perhaps  idiotism,  without  the  smallest 
symptom  of  intelligence — she  alone  has  shown  any  thing  like  re 
gret  on  gazing  on  her  native  land  for  the  last  time." 

Page  218 :  "It  has  been  told  us  by  many  that  the  Eboe  people 
are  confirmned  Anthropophagi ;  and  this  opinion  is  more  prevalent 
among  the  tribes  bordering  on  that  kingdom  than  with  the  nations 
of  more  remote  districts." 

We  shall  close  our  extracts  from  Lander's  work,  by  the  follow 
ing,  showing  that  the  Africans  made  slaves  of  the  two  Landers 
themselves. 

Page  225 :  "  The  king  then  said,  with  a  serious  countenance, 
that  there  was  no  necessity  for  further  discussion  respecting  the 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


white  men,  (the  two  brothers  Lander,)  his  mind  was  already  made 
up  on  the  subject ;  and  for  the  first  time,  he  briefly  explained  him 
self,  to  this  effect :  That  circumstances  having  thrown  us  in  the 
way  of  his  subjects,  by  the  laws  and  usages  of  the  country  he  was 
not  only  entitled  to  our  own  persons,  but  had  equal  rights  to  those 
of  our  attendants.  That  he  should  take  no  further  advantage  of 
his  good  fortune  than  by  exchanging  us  for  as  much  English  goods 
as  would  amount  in  value  to  twenty  slaves." 

The  following  we  transcribe  from  Stedman's  Narrative,  vol.  ii. 
page  267  :  "  I  should  not  forget  to  mention  that  the  Gingo  negroes 
are  supposed  to  be  Anthropophagi,  or  cannibals,  like  the  Caribbee 
Indians,  instigated  by  habitual  and  implacable  revenge.  Among 
the  rebels  of  this  tribe,  after  the  taking  of  Boucore,  some  pots  were 
found  on  the  fire,  with  human  flesh,  which  one  of  the  officers  had 
the  curiosity  to  taste ;  and  declared  that  it  was  not  inferior  to 
some  kinds  of  beef  or  pork.  I  have  since  been  informed,  by  a 
Mr.  Vaugils,  an  American,  who,  having  travelled  a  great  number 
of  miles  inland  in  Africa,  at  last  came  to  a  place  where  human 
arms,  legs,  and  thighs  hung  upon  wooden  shambles,  and  were  ex 
posed  to  sale  like  butcher's  meat.  And  Captain  John  Keen,  formerly 
of  the  Dolphin,  but  late  of  the  Vianbana  schooner,  in  the  Sierra 
Leone  Company's  service,  positively  assured  me  that,  a  few  years 
since,  when  he  was  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  in  the  brig  Fame,  from 
Bristol,  Mr.  Samuel  Briggs,  owner,  trading  for  wool,  ivory,  and 
gold-dust,  a  Captain  Dunningen,  with  the  whole  crew  belonging 
to  the  Nassau  schooner,  were  cut  in  pieces,  salted,  and  eaten  by 
the  negroes  of  Great  Drewin." 

But  this  is  nothing  to  what  is  related,  on  good  authority,  respect 
ing  the  Giagas,  a  race  of  cannibals  who  are  said  to  have  overrun  a 
great  part  of  Africa.  These  monsters,  it  is  said,  are  descended 
from  the  Agows  and  Galia,  who  dwell  in  the  southern  extremity 
of  Abyssinia,  near  the  sources  of  the  Nile.  Impelled  by  necessity 
or  the  love  of  plunder,  they  left  their  original  settlements,  and 
extended  their  ravages  through  the  heart  of  Africa,  till  they  were 
stopped  by  the  Western  Ocean.  They  seized  on  the  kingdom  of 
Benguela,  laying  to  the  south  of  Angola ;  and  in  this  situation 
they  were  found  by  the  Romish  missionaries,  and  by  our  country 
man,  Andrew  Battel,  whose  adventures  may  be  found  in  Purchas's 
Pilgrim.  Both  he,  and  the  Capuchin  Cavozzi,  who  resided  long 
among  them  and  converted  several  of  them  to  Christianity,  gave 
such  an  account  of  their  manners  as  is  enough  to  chill  the  blood 

10 


146  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


with  horror.  We  shall  spare  our  readers  the  horrid  detail,  only 
observing  that  human  flesh  is  one  of  their  delicacies,  and  that  they 
devour  it,  not  from  a  spirit  of  revenge,  or  from  any  want  of  other 
food,  but  as  the  most  agreeable  dainty.  Some  of  their  command 
ers,  when  they  went  on  an  expedition,  carried  numbers  of  young 
women  along  with  them,  some  of  whom  were  slain  almost  every 
day,  to  gratify  this  unnatural  appetite."  See  Modern  Universal 
History,  vol.  xvi.  p.  321;  also  Anzito;  also  Edin.  Encyc.  vol.  ii. 
p.  185. 

In  continuation  of  this  subject,  permit  us  to  take  a  view  of  these 
tribes,  at  a  time  just  before  the  slave-trade  commenced  among 
them  with  Christian  nations.  The  Portuguese  were  first  to  attempt 
to  colonize  portions  of  Africa,  with  the  double  view  of  extending 
commerce  and  of  spreading  the  Christian  faith.  They  commenced 
a  settlement  of  that  kind  in  the  regions  of  Congo,  as  early  as 
1578  ;  shortly  after  which,  the  Angolas,  an  adjoining  nation,  being 
at  war  with  each  other,  one  party  applied  to  Congo  and  the  Portu 
guese  for  aid,  which  was  lent  them.  Soon  a  battle  took  place,  in 
which  120,000  of  the  Angolas  and  Giagas  were  slain.  See  Lopez's 
Hist,  of  Congo. 

About  the  same  time,  we  find  in  Dappus  de  I'Afrique,  the  fol 
lowing  data : 

"The  natives  of  Angola  are  tall  and  strong;  but,  like  the  rest 
of  the  Ethiopians,  they  are  so  very  lazy  and  indolent,  that  although 
their  soil  is  admirably  adapted  to  the  raising  of  cattle  and  the 
production  of  grain,  they  allow  both  to  be  destroyed  by  the  wild 
beasts  with  which  the  country  abounds.  The  advantages  which 
they  enjoy  from  climate  and  soil  are  thus  neglected.  *  *  * 
We  are  told  that  the  people  in  some  of  the  idolatrous  provinces 
still  feed  on  human  flesh,  and  prefer  it  to  all  other ;  so  that  a  dead 
slave  gives  a  higher  price  in  market  than  a  living  one.  The  can 
nibals  are  in  all  probability  descended  from  the  barbarous  race  of 
the  Giagas,  by  whom  the  greater  part  of  the  eastern  and  south 
eastern  provinces  were  peopled.  One  most  inhuman  custom  still 
prevails  in  this  part  of  the  kingdom,  and  that  is,  the  sacrificing  of 
a  number  of  human  victims  at  the  burial  of  their  dead,  in  testi 
mony  of  the  respect  in  which  their  memory  is  held.  The  number 
of  these  unhappy  victims  is  therefore  always  in  proportion  to  the 
rank  and  wealth  of  the  deceased ;  and  their  bodies  are  afterwards 
piled  up  in  a  heap  upon  their  tombs.  *  *  *  This  prince 
(Angola  Chilvagni)  became  a  great  warrior,  enlarged  the  AngoJic 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  147 

dominions,  and  died  much  regretted ;  and  was  succeeded  by  his 
son,  Dambi  Angola.  Unlike  his  father,  he  is  described  as  a  mon 
ster  of  cruelty,  and,  happily  for  his  subjects,  his  reign  was  of  short 
duration.  Nevertheless,  he  was  buried  with  great  magnificence ; 
and,  according  to  the  barbarous  custom  of  the  country,  a  mound 
was  erected  over  his  grave,  filled  with  the  bones  of  human  victims, 
who  had  been  sacrificed  to  his  manes." 

"He  was  succeeded  by  Ngola  Chilvagni,  a  warlike  and  cruel 
prince,  who  carried  his  victorious  arms  within  a  few  leagues  of 
Loando.  Intoxicated  with  success,  he  fancied  himself  a 

God,  and  claimed  divine  honours.  *  *  *  Ngingha  was  elected 
his  successor,  a  prince  of  so  cruel  a  disposition  that  all  his  subjects 
wished  his  death  ;  which,  happily  for  them,  soon  arrived.  Never 
theless,  he  was  buried  with  the  usual  pomp,  with  the  usual  number 
of  sacrifices.  His  son  and  successor,  Bandi  Angola,  discovered  a 
disposition  still  more  cruel  than  his  father's.  *  *  *  To  coun 
teract  these  and  other  idolatrous  rites,  and  to  soften  that  barbarity 
of  manners  which  so  generally  prevailed,  the  Portuguese,  when 
they  established  themselves  in  the  country,  (1578,)  were  at  great 
pains  to  introduce  the  invaluable  blessings  of  Christianity.  *  *  * 
so  that  from  the  year  1580  to  1590,  we  are  informed,  no  less  a 
number  than  20,000  were  converted  and  publicly  professed  Chris 
tianity."  *  * 

"Her  remains  were  no  sooner  deposited  beside  her  sisters,  in  the 
church  which  she  had  built,  than  Mona  Zingha  declared  his  abhor 
rence  to  Christianity,  and  revived  the  horrid  Giagan  rites.  Five 
women,  of  the  first  rank,  were  by  his  orders  buried  in  the  queen's 
grave,  and  upwards  of  forty  persons  of  distinction  were  next  sacri 
ficed.  He  wrote  the  viceroy  at  Loando,  that  he  had 
abjured  the  Christian  religion,  which  he  said  he  had  formerly  em 
braced  merely  out  of  respect  *  *  *  to  his  queen,  and  that  he 
now  returned  to  the  ancient  sect  of  the  Giagas.  That  there  might 
remain  no  doubt  of  his  sincerity  in  that  declaration,  he  followed  it 
with  the  sacrifice  of  a  great  number  of  victims,  in  honour  of  their 
bloody  and  idolatrous  rites,  with  the  destruction  of  all  Christian 
churches  and  chapels,  and  with  the  persecution  of  the  Christians 
in  all  parts  of  his  kingdom." 

And  we  may  here  remark  that  even  the  nations  of  the  coast 
could  never  be  persuaded  to  abolish  human  sacrifice,  nor  to  the  in 
troduction  of  Christianity,  to  any  extent,  until  after  the  introduc 
tion  of  the  slave-trade  with  Christian  nations.  See  also  Osbcrn's 


148  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

Collection  of  Travels,  vol.  ii.  p.  537  ;  Mod.  Universal  Hist.  vol.  43; 
and  Edin.  Encyc.  vol.  ii.  pp.  107,  109,  110,  113. 

Over  two  hundred  years  ago,  and  during  the  reign  of  Charles  I. 
of  England,  Sir  Thomas  Herbert,  (not  Lord  Edward  Herbert,  who 
wrote  a  deistical  book,  entitled,  "  Truth,")  a  gentleman  of  most 
elevated  connection,  and  a  scholar  devoted  to  science  acd  general 
literature,  with  a  mind  adorned  by  poetry  and  influenced  by  the 
strongest  impulses  of  human  sympathy  ;  and  one,  of  whom  Lord 
Fairfax  said, 

"  He  travelled,  not  with  lucre  soti"d, 
But  went  for  knowledge — and  he  got  it!" 

This  author,  in  his  Tour  in  Africa,  writes  thus :  "  The  inhabit 
ants  here  along  the  Golden  coast  of  Guinea,  and  Benin,  bounded 
with  Tombotu,  (Timbuctoo,)  Gualata,  and  Mellis,  and  watered  by  the 
great  river  Niger,  but,  especially  in  the  Mediterranean  (inland)  parts, 
know  no  God,  nor  are  at  all  willing  to  be  instructed  by  nature — 
"  Scire  nihil  jucundissimum."  Howbeit  the  Divel,  who  will  not 
want  his  ceremonie,  has  infused  prodigious  idolatry  into  their 
hearts,  enough  to  relish  his  pallet,  and  aggrandize  their  tortures, 
where  he  gets  power  to  fry  their  "ouls,  as  the  raging  sun  -has 
scorched  their  cole-black  carcasses.  *  *  Those  countries 

are  full  of  black-skinned  wretches,  rich  in  earth,  as  abounding 
with  the  best  minerals  and  with  elephants,  but  miserable  in  De- 
monomy.  *  *  *  Let  one  character  serve  for  all.  For  colour 
they  resemble  chimney-sweepers ;  unlike  them  in  this,  they  are  of 
no  profession,  except  rapine  and  villany  make  one ;  for  here,  De- 
monis  omnia  plena.  *  *  *  But  in  Loan go  and  the  Anziqui 
the  people  are  little  other  than  divels  incarnate ;  not  satisfied 
with  nature's  treasures,  as  gold,  precious  stones,  flesh  in  variety, 
and  the  like ;  the  destruction  of  men  and  women  neighbouring 
them,  whose  dead  carcasses  they  devour  with  a  vulture  relish  and 
appetite  ;  whom  if  they  miss,  they  serve  their  friends  such  scurvy 
sauce,  butchering  them,  and  thinking  they  excuse  all  in  a  compli 
ment  that  they  know  no  better  way  to  express  love  than  in  making 
two  bodies  in  one,  by  an  inseparable  union  ;  yea,  some,  as  some 
report,  proffering  themselves  to  the  shambles,  accordingly  are  dis 
jointed  and  set  to  sale  upon  the  stalls.  *  *  *  The  natives 
of  Africa  being  propagated  from  Cham,  both  in  their  visages  and 
natures,  seem  to  inherit  his  malediction.  *  *  *  They  are 
very  brutes.  A  dog  was  of  that  value  here  that  twenty  salvages 
(slaves)  have  been  exchanged  for  one  of  them ;  but  of  late  years 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  149 

• 

the  exchange  here  made  for  negroes,  to  transport  into  the  Cariba 
isles  and  continent  of  America,  is  become  a  considerable  trade." 

It  will  be  remembered  how  great  have  been  the  exertions  of  the 
British  Government  to  abolish  totally  the  slave-trade  in  Africa.  A 
great  number  of  slave  ships  were  captured,  and  the  negroes  found 
on  board  sent  to  Sierra  Leone.  Strong  hopes  were  entertained  that 
"poor,  suffering  Africa"  was  about  to  be  civilized. 

We  quote  from  the  Hibernian  Auxiliary  Missionary  Report, 
Christian  Observer,  1820,  pages  888  and  889  : 

"  The  slave-trade,  which  like  the  (fabled)  upas,  blasts  all  that 
is  wholesome  in  its  vicinity,  has,  in  one  important  instance,  been 
here  overruled  for  good.  It  has  been  made  the  means  of  assem 
bling  on  one  spot,  and  that  on  a  Christian  soil,  individuals  from 
almost  every  nation  of  the  western  coast  of  Africa.  It  has  been 
made  the  means  of  introducing  to  civilization  and  religion  many 
hundreds  from  the  interior  of  that  vast  continent,  who  had  never 
seen  the  face  of  a  white  man,  nor  heard  the  name  of  Jesus.  And 
it  will  be  made  the  means  under  God  of  sending  to  the  nations 
beyond  the  Niger  and  the  Zaire,  native  missionaries  who  will  preach 
the  Redeemer  in  the  utmost  parts  of  the  country,  and  enable  their 
countrymen  to  hear  in  their  own  tongue  the  wonderful  works  of 
God.  European  avarice  and  native  profligacy  leave  no  part  of 
Africa  unexplored  for  victims ;  and  these  slaves,  rescued  by  our 
cruisers,  and  landed  on  the  shores  of  our  colony,  are  received  by 
our  missionaries  and  placed  in  their  schools." 

The  sympathies  of  the  world  were  excited  on  this  subject,  and 
every  civilized  heart  cried  amen,  in  union  with  the  impulsive  feel 
ings  of  this  Hibernian  Report. 

But  let  us  remember  to  inquire  a  little  into  the  facts,  and 
examine  whether  these  hopes  were  well  or  ill  founded.  We  quote 
from  vol.  xix.  of  the  Christian  Observer,  page  890 : 

"  Mr.  Johnson  was  appointed  to  the  care  of  Regent's  Town,  in 
the  month  of  Jufte,  1816.  On  looking  narrowly  into  the  actual 
condition  of  the  people  intrusted  to  his  care,  he  felt  great  dis 
couragement.  Natives  of  twenty-two  different  nations  were  there 
collected  together.  A  considerable  number  of  them  had  been  but 
recently  liberated  from  the  holds  of  slave-vessels.  They  were 
greatly  prejudiced  against  one  another,  and  in  a  state  of  continual 
hostility,  with  no  common  medium  of  intercourse  but  a  little  broken 
English.  When  clothing  was  given  to  them,  they  would  sell  it,  or 
throw  it  away :  it  was  difficult  to  induce  them  to  put  it  on  ;  and  it 


150  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


was  not  found  practicable  to  introduce  it  among  them,  until  led  to 
;t  by  the  example  of  Mr.  Johnson's  servant-girl.  None  of  them, 
on  their  first  arrival,  seemed  to  live  in  a  state  of  marriage ;  some 
of  them  were  soon  afterwards  married  by  the  late  Mr.  Butscher ; 
but  all  the  blessings  of  the  marriage  state  and  of  female  purity 
appeared  to  be  quite  unknown.  *  *  *  Superstition,  in  various 
forms,  tyrannized  over  their  minds ;  many  devil's  houses  sprang 
up,  and  all  placed  their  security  in  wearing  gregrees.  Scarcely 
any  desire  of  improvement  was  discernable.  *  *  *  Some,  who 
wished  to  cultivate  the  soil,  were  deterred  from  doing  so  by  the  fear 
of  being  plundered  of  the  produce.  Some  would  live  in  the  woods, 
apart  from  society ;  and  others  subsisted  by  thieving  and  plunder : 
they  would  steal  poultry  and  pigs  from  any  who  possessed  them, 
and  would  eat  them  raw ;  and  not  a  few  of  them,  particularly  of 
the  Eboe  nation,  the  most  savage  of  them  all,  would  prefer  any 
kind  of  refuse  meat  to  the  rations  which  they  received  from 
Government." 

Doubtless  Mr.  Johnson  and  his  successors  have  done  all  that  good 
men  could  do,  even  under  the  protection  of  the  British  Govern 
ment;  but  have  they,  in  the  least,  affected  the  slave-trade  of 
Africa,  otherwise  than  to  divert  its  direction,  or  have  they  dimi 
nished  it  to  any  observable  extent?  True,  its  course  has  been 
changed,  and  its  enormities  thereby  increased  tenfold.  Instead 
of  its  subjects  being  brought  under  the  regenerating  influences  of 
Christianity,  they  are  sacrificed  at  the  shrine  of  friends  at  home, 
or  sent  among  pagans  or  Mohammedans  !  Let  the  Christian  phi 
losopher  think  of  these  things. 

While  we  recollect  the  proclamation  of  the  Emperor  of  Bourno, 
let  us  look  at  the  slave-trade  as  now  carried  on  with  the  Barbary 
States,  the  Arab  tribes,  and  Egypt  and  Asia,  as  well  as  Turkey 
in  Europe.  We  quote  from  "  Burckhart's  Travels  in  Nubia,"  as 
reported  in  the  Christian  Observer,  vol.  xix.  p.  459 : 

"  The  author  had  a  most  favourable  opportunity  of  collecting 
intelligence  and  making  observations  on  this  subject,  (slavery,)  as 
connected  with  the  northeastern  parts  of  Africa  by  travelling 
with  companies  of  slaves  and  slave-merchants  through  the  deserts 
of  Nubia.  *  *  *  The  chief  mart  in  the  Nubian  mountains,  for 
the  Egyptian  and  the  Arabian  slave-trade,  is  Shendy. 
To  this  emporium,  slaves  are  brought  from  various  parts  of  the 
interior,  and  particularly  from  the  idolatrous  *  *  tribes  in 

the  vicinity  of  Darfour,  Bozgho,  and  Dar  Saley." 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


Our  traveller  calculated  the  number  sold  annually  in  the  market 
of  Shendy  at  five  thousand.  "Far  the  larger  part  of  these  slaves 
are  under  the  age  of  fifteen." 

See  page  460 :  "Few  slaves  are  imported  into  Egypt  without 
changing  masters  several  times.  *  *  *  A  slave,  for  example, 
purchased  at  Fertit,  is  transferred  at  least  six  times  before  he 
arrives  at  Cairo.  These  rapid  changes,  as  might  be  expected,  are 
productive  of  great  hardship  to  the  unfortunate  individuals,  espe 
cially  in  the  toilsome  journey  across  the  deserts.  Burckhart  saw 
on  sale  at  Shendy,  many  children  of  four  of  five  years  old,  with 
out  their  parents.  *  *  *  Burckhart  has  entered  into  the 
details  of  cruelties  of  another  kind,  practised  on  the  slaves  to  raise 
their  pecuniary  value.  The  particulars  are  not  suitable  for  a  work 
of  miscellaneous  perusal.  *  *  *  The  great  mart,  however,  for 
the  supply  of  European  and  Asiatic  Turkey  with  the  kind  of 
slaves  required  as  guardians  for  the  harem,  Mr.  Burckhart  informs 
us,  is  not  at  Shendy,  but  at  a  village  near  Siout,  in  Upper  Egypt, 
inhabited  chiefly  ly  Christians."  (Abyssinians,  we  suppose.) 

The  mode  of  marching  slaves  is  described  as  follows  :  "  On  the 
journey,  they  are  tied  to  a  long  pole,  one  end  of  which  is  tied  to  a 
camel's  saddle,  and  the  other,  which  is  forked,  is  passed  on  each 
side  of  the  slave's  neck,  and  tied  behind  with  a  strong  cord,  so  as 
to  prevent  him  drawing  out  his  head :  in  addition  to  this,  his  right 
hand  is  also  fastened  to  the  pole,  at  a  short  distance  from  the 
head,  thus  leaving  only  his  legs  and  left  arm  at  liberty.  In  this 
manner  he  marches  the  whole  day  behind  the  camel :  at  night  he 
is  taken  from  the  pole  and  put  in  irons.  While  on  the  route  to 
Souakim,  I  saw  several  slaves  carried  along  in  this  way.  Their 
owners  were  afraid  of  their  escaping,  or.  of  becoming  themselves 
the  objects  of  their  vengeance  ;  and  in  this  manner  they  would 
continue  to  be  confined  until  sold  to  a  master,  who,  intending  to 
keep  them,  would  endeavour  to  attach  them  to  his  person.  In 
general,  the  traders  seem  greatly  to  dread  the  effects  of  sudden 
resentment  in  their  slaves  ;  and  if  a  grown-up  boy  is  to  be  whipped, 
his  master  first  puts  him  in  irons." 

Page  333 :  "  Females  with  children  on  their  backs  follow  the 
caravans  on  foot ;  and  if  a  camel  breaks  down,  the  owner  generally 
loads  his  slaves  with  the  packages  ;  and  if  a  boy  in  the  evening  can 
only  obtain  a  little  butter  with  his  dhourra  bread,  and  some  grease 
every  two  or  three  days  to  smear  his  body  and  hair,  he  is  con 
tented,  and  never  complains  of  fatigue.  Another  cause  which 


152  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

induces  the  merchants  to  treat  the  slaves  well  (?)  is  their  anxiety 
to  dissipate  the  horror  which  the  negroes  all  entertain  of  Egypt 
and  the  white  people.  It  is  a  common  opinion  in  the  black  slave 
countries  that  the  Ouleder  Rif,  or  children  of  Rif,  as  the  Egyptians 
are  there  called,  devour  the  slaves,  who  are  transported  thither  for 
that  purpose :  of  course,  the  traders  do  every  thing  in  their  power 
to  destroy  this  belief;  but,  notwithstanding  all  their  endeavours, 
it  is  never  eradicated  from  the  mind  of  the  slaves." 

Page  462 :  "  The  manners  of  the  people  of  Souakim  are  the 
same  as  those  I  have  already  described  in  the  interior,  and  I  have 
reason  to  believe  that  they  are  common  to  the  whole  of  eastern 
Africa,  including  Abyssinia,  where  the  character  of  the  inhabitants, 
as  drawn  by  Bruce,  seems  little  different  from  that  of  these  Nubians. 
I  regret  that  I  am  compelled  to  represent  all  the  nations  of  Africa 
which  I  have  yet  seen,  in  so  bad  a  light." 

We  next  quote  from  the  Family  Magazine,  1836,  page  439,  as 
follows:  "Many  of  the  Dayaks  have  a  rough,  scaly  scurf  on  their 
skin,  like  the  Jacong  of  the  Malay  Peninsula.  *  *  *  The 
female  slaves  of  this  race,  which  are  found  among  the  Malays, 
have  no  appearance  of  it,  *  *  *  With  regard  to  their  funeral 
ceremonies,  the  corpse  •*  *  *  remains  in  the  house  till  the 
son,  the  father,  or  the  next  of  blood,  can  procure  or  purchase  a 
slave,  who  is  beheaded  at  the  time  the  corpse  is  burned,  in  order 
that  he  may  become  the  slave  of  the  deceased  in  the  next  world. 

*  *      *      Nobody  can  be  permitted  to  marry  till  he  can  pre 
sent  a  human   head  of  some   other  tribe  to  his  proposed  bride. 

*  *      *      The  head-hunter  proceeds  in  the  most  cautious  man 
ner  to  the  vicinity  of  the  villages  of  another  tribe,  and  lies  in  am 
bush  till  he  can  surprise  some  heedless,  unsuspecting  wretch,  who 
is  instantly  decapitated.     *     *     *     When  the  hunter  returns,  the 
whole  village   is   filled  with  joy,  and  old  and  young,  men  and 
women,  hurry  out  to  meet  him,  and  conduct  him,  with  the  sound 
of  brazen  cymbals,  dancing,  in  long  lines,  to  the  house  of  the 
female  he  admires,  whose  family  likewise  come  out  to  greet  him 
with  dances,  and  provide  him  with  a  seat,  and  give  him  meat  and 
drink.    He  holds  the  bloody  head  still  in»his  hand,  and  puts  part  of 
the  food  into  his  mouth,  after  which  the  females  of  the  family  receive 
the  head  from  him,  which  they  hang  up  to  the  ceiling  over  the  door. 
If  a  man's  wife  die,  he  is  not  permitted  to  make  proposals  of  mar 
riage  to  another  till  he  has  procured  another  head  of  a  different 
tribe.     The  heads  they  procure  in  this  manner,  they  preserve  with 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


153 


great  care,  and  sometimes  consult  in  divination.  The  religious 
opinions  connected  with  this  practice  are  by  no  means  correctly 
understood :  some  assert  they  believe  that  every  person  whom  a 
man  kills  in  this  world  becomes  his  slave  in  the  next.  *  *  * 
The  practice  of  stealing  heads  causes  frequent  wars  among  the 
tribes  of  the  Idean.  Many  persons  never  can  obtain  a  head  ;  in 
which  case  they  are  generally  despised  by  the  warriors  and  the 
women.  To  ^such  a  height  is  it  carried,  however,  that  a  person 
who  has  obtained  eleven  heads  has  been  seen,  and  at  the  same  time 
he  pointed  out  his  son  who,  a  young  lad,  had  procured  three." 

James  Edward  Alexander,  H.  L.  S.,  during  the  years  1836  and 
1837,  made  an  excursion  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  into  the 
interior  of  South  Africa  and  the  countries  of  the  Namaquas, 
Boschmans,  and  Hill  Damaras,  under  the  auspices  of  Her  Ma 
jesty's  Government  and  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  which 
has  been  published  in  two  volumes;  from  which  we  extract,  vol.  i. 
page  126  :  "I  was  anxious  to  ascertain  the  extent  of  knowledge 
among  the  tribe  (Damaras)  with  which  I  now  dwelt ;  to  learn  what, 
they  knew  of  themselves,  and  of  men  and  things  in  general;  but 
I  must  say  that  they  positively  know  nothing  beyond  tracing  game 
and  breaking  in  jack-oxen.  They  did  not'  know  one  year  from 
another;  they  only  knew  that  at  certain  times  the  trees  and  flowers 
bloom,  and  then  rain  was  expected.  As  to  cheir  own  age,  they 
knew  no  more  what  it  was  than  idiots.  Some  even  had  no  names. 
Of  numbers,  of  course,  they  were  nearly  or  quite  ignorant ;  few 
could  count  above  five ;  and  he  was  a  clever  fellow  who  could  count 
his  ten  fingers.  Above  all  they  had  not  the  least  idea  of  God  or 
of  a  future  state.  They  were,  literally  like  the  beasts  which 
perish." 

Page  163, 164,  and  1B5 :  "  At  Chubeeches  the  people  were  very 
Poor-  *     Standing  in  need  of  a  shepherd,  I  observed  here 

two  or  three  fine  little  Damara  boys,  as  black  as  ebony.  *  *  * 
I  said  to  the  old  woman  to  whom  Saul  belonged,  '  You  have  two 
boys,  and  they  are  starving ;  you  have  nothing  to  give  them.'  '  This 
is  true,'  she  replied.  'Will  you  part  with  Saul  ?'  said  I ;  '  I  want 
a  shepherd,  and  the  boy  wants  to  go  with  me.'  'You  will  find 
him  too  cunning,'  returned  the  old  dame.  'I  want,a  clever  fel 
low,'  said  I.  'Very  well,'  she  replied  ;  'give  me  four  cotton  hand 
kerchiefs  and  he  is  yours.'  'Suppose,'  said  I,  'you  take  two 
handkerchiefs  and  two  strings  of  glass  beads?'  'Yes!  that  will 
do  ;'  and  so  the  bargain  was  closed;  and  thus  a  good  specimen  of 


154  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


Damara  flesh  and  blood  was  bought  for  the  value  of  about  four 
shillings.  *  *  *  I  told  him  to  go  and  bring  his  skins  ;  on  which 
he  informed  me  that  he  had  none,  saving  what  he  stood  in — and 
that  was  his  own  sable  hide,  with  the  addition  of  the  usual  strap 
of  leather  around  his  waist,  from  which  hung  a  piece  of  jackal's 
skin  in  front.  Constant  exposure  to  the  vicissitudes  of  the  weather, 
without  clothes,  hardens  the  skin  of  the  body  like  that  of  the  face  ; 
and  still  it  is  difficult  to  sleep  at  nights  without  proper  covering. 
In  cold  weather,  the  poor  creatures  of  Namaqua  Land,  who  may 
have  no  karossjes,  sit  cowering  over  a  fire  all  night,  and  merely 
doze  with  their  heads  on  their  knees." 

Vol.  ii.  page  23  :  "  Can  any  state  of  society  be  considered  more 
low  and  brutal  than  that  in  which  promiscuous  intercourse  is  viewed 
with  the  most  perfect  indifference ;  where  it  is  not  only  practised, 
but  spoken  of  without  any  shame  or  compunction?  Some  rave 
about  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  savage  state,  and  about  the  innocence 
of  the  children  of  nature,  and  say  that  it  is  chiefly  by  the  white 
men  that  they  become  corrupt.  The  Boschmans  of  Ababres  had 
never  seen  white  men  before  ;  they  were  far  removed  from  the  in 
fluence  of  the  Europeans." 

Vol.  i.  page  102  :  "Notwithstanding  that  some  people  maintain 
that  there  is  no  nation  on  earth  without  religion  in  some  form, 
however  faintly  it  may  be  traced  in  their  minds,  yet,  after  much 
diligent  inquiry,  I  could  not  discover  the  slightest  feeling  of  devo 
tion  towards  a  higher  and  invisible  power  among  the  Hill  Da- 
maras." 

In  Mohammedan  countries,  the  most  unfavourable  portions  of  the 
slave's  existence,  as  such,  is  while  in  the  hands  of  the  geeleb,  or 
slave-merchant,  and  until  he  is  sold  to  one  who  designs  to  keep 
him  permanently.  In  the  first  instance,  if  negroes,  they  suffer 
much  in  the  journey  from  the  place  of  purchase  to  that  of  sale. 
For  instance,  it  has  been  known,  in  the  journey  from  Sennaar  and 
Darfour  to  the  slave-mart  at  Cairo,  or  even  the  intermediate  one 
at  Siout,  the  loss  in  a  slave  caravan,  of  men,  women,  camels,  and 
horses,  amounted  to  not  less  than  4000.  The  circumstances  of  the 
mart  itself  scarcely  appear  in  a  more  favourable  aspect  than  those 
of  the  journey, — whether  we  regard  the  miserable  beings,  as  in 
the  market  at  Cairo,  crowded  together  in  enclosures  like  the  sheep- 
pens  in  Smithfield  market,  amid  the  abominable  stench  and  uri- 
cleanness  which  result  from  their  confinement ;  whether,  as  at  an 
other  great  mart  at  Muscat,  we  perceive  the  dealer  walking  to  and 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

fro,  with  a  stick  in  his  hand,  between  two  lots  of  ill-clothed  boys 
and  girls,  whom  ho  is  offering  for  sale,  proclaiming  aloud,  as  he 
passes,  the  price  fixed  on  each  ;  or  else  leading  his  string  of  slaves 
through  the  narrow  and  dirty  streets,  and  calling  out  their  prices 
as  he  exhibits  them  in  this  ambulatory  auction.      *      *      *      The 
slaves,  variously  exhibited,  usually  appear  quite  indifferent  to  the 
process,  or  only  show  an  anxiety  to  be  sold,  from  knowing  that  as 
slaves,  finally  purchased,  their  condition  will  be  much  ameliorated. 
How  little  slavery  is  dreaded  is  also  shown  by  the 
fact  that  even  Mohammedan  parents  or  relatives  are,  in  cases  of 
emergency,  ready  enough  to  offer  their  children  for  sale.     During 
the  famine  which  a  few  years  since  drove  the  people  of  Mosul  to 
Bengal,  one  could  not  pass  the  streets  without  being  annoyed  by 
the  solicitations  of  parents  to  purchase  their  boys  and  girls  for  the 
merest  trifle ;  and  even  in  Koordistan,  where  no  constraining  mo 
tive  appeared  to  exist,  we  have  been  sounded  as  to  our  willingness 
to  purchase  young  members  of  the  family.     Europeans  in  the  East 
are  scarcely  considered  amenable  to  any  general  rules,  but  Chris 
tians  generally  are  not  allowed  to  possess  any  other  than  negro 
slaves."  London  Penny  Mag.  1834,  pp.  243,  244;  also,  Sketches 
of  Persia,  and  Johnson  s  Journey  from  India. 


LESSON  XV. 

QUOTATIONS  from  books  of  authority,  portraying  the  universal 
state  of  degradation  of  the  African  hordes,  may  be  made  to  an 
unlimited  extent.  Our  object  has  been  to  present  some  idea  of 
what  the  negro  is  in  his  own  country,  when  beyond  the  influence 
of  American  slavery.  We  will  now  advance  some  views  of  him  and 
his  race,  as  they  present  themselves  in  this  American  slavery. 
And  here  let  us  premise  that  the  population  of  the  African  tribes 
is  estimated  at  50,000,000,  40,000,000  of  whom  are  deemed  to 
be  slaves;  that  the  wars  among  them  are  not  so  much  wars  to  make 
freemen  slaves,  as  they  are  to  appropriate  the  slaves  of  one  owner 
to  the  rightful  ownership  of  another,  according  to  their  notions  of 
law  and  their  customs  of  right.  Among  them,  conquest  always 
subjects  to  slavery.  When  slaves  take  a  captive,  he  is  the  property 
of  their  master.  ^  Slavery  exists  there  according  to  their  laws  and 
customs ;  and  there  is  no  evidence,  nor  in  fact  is  it  probable,  that 


156  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

£  ven  the  slave-trade  with  America  has  ever  increased  the  extent  or 
degree  of  slavery  in  Africa. 

We  quote  from  a  truly  able  and  sympathetic  writer,  J.  Morier's 
"Second  Journey  through  Persia,"  as  reported  in  the  Christian 
Observer,  vol.  xvi.  page  808 : 

"  During  the  time  we  were  at  the  Brazils,  the  slave-trade  was  in 
full  vigour,  and  a  visit  to  the  slave-market  impressed  us  more  with 
the  iniquity  of  this  traffic  than  any  other  thing  that  could  be  said 
or  written  on  the  subject.  On  each  side  of  the  street  where  the. 
market  was  held,  were  large  rooms  in  which  the  negroes  were  kept ; 
and  during  the  day,  they  were  seen  in  melancholy  groups,  waiting  to 
be  delivered  from  the  hands  of  the  trader,  whose  dreadful  economy 
might  be  traced  in  their  persons,  which  at  that  time  were  little 
better  than  skeletons.  If  such  were  their  state  on  shore,  with  the 
advantage  of  air  and  space,  what  must  have  been  their  condition 
on  board  the  ship  that  brought  them  hither  ?  It  is  not  unfrequent 
that  slaves  escape  to  the  woods,  where  they  are  almost  as  frequently 
retaken.  When  this  is  the  case,  they  have  an  iron  collar  put  about 
their  necks,  with  a  long  hooked  arm  extending  from  it,  to  impede 
their  progress  through  the  woods,  in  case  they  should  abscond  a 
second  time.  Yet  amid  all  this  misery,  it  was  pleasing  to  observe 
the  many  negroes  who  frequented  the  churches,  and  to  see  them, 
in  form  and  profession,  at  least  making  a  part  of  a  Christian 
congregation." 

Mr.  Morier's  statement  may  bear  testimony  to  abuses  of  slavery ; 
but  it  certainly  bears  testimony  to  another  thing  more  important 
to  the  slave.  "  The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom." 
Prov.  ix.  10. 

And  we  here  beg  leave  to  remark  that  we  shall,  in  all  instances, 
draw  our  proofs  from  the  enemies  of  the  institution.  We  quote 
from  Berbick's  Notes  on  America,  page  20,  and  reported  in  vol. 
xvi.  of  the  Christian  Observer,  published  in  London,  May  10th, 
page  109  : 

"I  saw  two  female  slaves  and  their  children  sold  by  auction  in 
the  street ;  an  incident  of  common  occurrence  here,  though  horri 
fying  to  myself  and  many  other  strangers.  I  could  hardly  bear 
to  see  them  handled  and  examined  like  cattle ;  and  when  I  heard 
their  sobs  and  saw  the  big  tears  rolling  down  their  cheeks  at  the 
thought  of  being  separated,  I  could  not  refrain  from  weeping 
with  them." 

This  may  have  been  very  cruel  in  the  white  man ;  but  who  has 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


157 


ever  heard  of  a  negro  in  Africa  displaying  such  a  strength  of  ten 
derness  and  feeling  of  sympathy  as  here  manifested  ?  And  how 
are  we  to  account  for  it  in  this  instance,  if  not  by  the  regenerating 
influence  of  a  few  generations  in  American  and  Christian  slavery  ? 
However  slow  the  action,  the  condition  of  the  mental  faculties  was 
improved  and  the  moral  condition  ameliorated.  But  in  the  same 
page,  he  says — 

"  A  traveller  told  me  that  he  saw,  a  few  weeks  ago,  one  hundred 
and  twenty  sold  by  auction  in  the  streets  of  Richmond,  and  that 
they  filled  the  air  with  their  lamentations." 

The  case  of  the  women  was  not  solitary,  and  doubtless  we  shall 
find  such  proof  of  an  improved  state  of  the  affections  quite  com 
mon.  But  this  good  man  continuously  pursues  the  subject : 

"It  has  also  been  confidently  alleged,  that  the  condition  of 
slaves  in  Virginia,  under  the  mild  treatment  they  are  said  to  ex 
perience,  is  preferable  to  that  of  our  English  labourers.  I  know 
and  lament  the  degrading  state  of  dependent  poverty  to  which  the 
latter  have  been  gradually  reduced  by  the  operation  of  laws 
originally  designed  for  their  comfort  and  protection.  I  know  also 
that  many  slaves  pass  their  lives  in  comparative  ease,  and  seem  to 
be  unconscious  of  their  bonds,  and  that  the  most  wretched  of  our 
paupers  might  even  envy  the  allotment  of  the  happy  negro." 

We  will  now  quote  from  Lieutenant  Francis  Hall,  of  the  British 
Light  Dragoons.  In  his  Travels  in  Canada  and  the  United  States, 
published  in  London,  1818,  pages  357  to  360,  he  says— 

"  I  took  the  boat  this  morning,  and  crossed  the  ferry  over  to 
Portsmouth,  the  small  town  which  I  told  you  was  opposite  to  this 
place,  (Norfolk.)     It  was  court-day,  and  a  large  crowd  of  people 
was  gathered  about  the  door  of  the  court-house.     I  had  hardly  got 
upon  the  steps  to  look  in,  when  my  ears  were  assailed  by  the  voice 
of  singing,  and  turning  round  to  observe  from  what  quarter  it  came, 
I  saw  a  group  of  about  thirty  negroes,  of  different  sizes  and  ages, 
following  a  rougli-looking  white  man,  who  sat  carelessly  lolling  in 
his  sulkey.     They  had  just  turned  round  the  corner,  and  were 
coming  up  the  main  street,  to  pass  by  the  spot  where  I  stood,  on 
their  way  out  of  town.     As  they  came  nearer,  I  saw  some  of  them 
loaded  with  chains  to  prevent  their  escape,  while  others  had  hold 
of  each  other's  hands,  strongly  grasped,  as  if  to  support  them 
selves  in  their  affliction.     I  particularly  noticed  a  poor  mother, 
with  an  infant,  as  she  walked  along,  while  two  small  children  had 
hold  of  her  apron  on  either  side,  almost  running,  to  keep  up  with 


158  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

the  rest.  They  came  along  singing  a  little  wild  hymn,  of  sweet 
and  mournful  melody,  flying,  by  Divine  instinct  of  the  heart,  to  the 
consolations  of  religion,  the  last  refuge  of  the  unhappy,  to  support 
them  in  their  distress." 

We  have  no  knowledge  of  Lieutenant  Hall's  powers  of  deduction, 
nor  of  what  he  thought  this  story  proved.  But  it  will  surely  give 
us  new  views  of  Africa,  if  he  will  travel  there,  and  find  such  a 
scene  there,  among  the  many  slaves  he  may  now  see  naked,  tied  to 
poles,  and  leaving  their  country  for  ever.  The  world  has  been 
flooded  with  stories  of  this  description,  some  of  which  prove  the 
abuses  of  slavery,  but  all  of  them  prove  some  amelioration,  botli 
mentally  and  physically,  in  the  condition  of  the  slave  here,  when 
compared  with  the  condition  of  the  African  at  home,  whether  bond 
or  free. 

Mr.  Barnes  has  admitted  one  into  his  book,  pages  136,  137,  and 
138,  which  adds  strength  to  our  position :  its  length  excludes  a 
copy.  We  quote  again  from  the  Christian  Observer,  vol.  xv.  p. 
541:  "Missions  of  the  United  Brethren  at  Surinam." — Mr.  Camp 
bell  writes :  "  On  the  plantations  and  at  Sommelsdyk  there  was  a 
great  desire  among  the  negroes  to  hear  the  gospel,  which  finds 
entrance  into  many  of  their  hearts.  *  *  *  At  Paramaribo, 
the  negro  congregation  consisted,  at  the  close  of  1813,  of  550." 
"  On  the  30th  of  August,  1814,  the  same  missionary  writes  that 
the  word  of  God  among  the  negroes  in  Paramaribo  continues  to 
increase,  and  we  have  great  reason  to  rejoice  and  take  courage 
when  we  see  marked  proofs  of  the  Divine  blessing  upon  our  feeble 
ministry."  See  page  542.  "Antigua." — "A  letter  from  this 
island,  dated,  Grace  Hill,  Jan.  14th,  1814.  *  *  .  *  The  con 
gregation  of  Christian  negroes  at  this  place  consisted,  at  the  close 
of  1813,  of  2087  persons."  Again,  page  543  :  "Some  poor  ne 
groes,  who,  although  they  sigh  under  the  pressure  of  slavery  and 
various  hardships,  or  ailments  of  body,  seek  consolation  and  re 
freshment  from  the  meritorious  passion  of  Jesus,  are  enabled,  with 
tears  of  joy,  to  lay  hold  on  these  words  of  Scripture  :  '  I  reckon 
that  the  sufferings  of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be  com 
pared  with  the  glory  which  shall  be  revealed  in  us."  Again,  p. 
554 :  "  Jamaica." — Mr.  Lang,  the  missionary,  writes  thus,  on  the  5th 
February,  1814 :  "  It  pleases  the  Lord  still  to  bless  our  labours  with 
success,  so  as  to  encourage  us  to  believe  that  he  has  thoughts  of 
peace  regarding  the  negroes  in  Jamaica  also,  and  will  visit  them 
yet  more  generally  with  his  salvation,"  &c.  Page  546  :  "  Danish. 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


159 


Islands.—  The  number  of  Christian  negroes  belonging  to  the 
different  missions  in  the  Danish  Islands,  was,  at  the  end  of  1813, 
as  follows  : 

At  Friedensthal,  St.  Croix  .......................  5,100 

"  Friedensberg        «       .......................  2*396 

New  Hernhutt,  St.  Thomas  ..................      949 


"         ..................  1,304 

'  Bethany,  St.  Jan  ...............................      474 

"  Emmaus  "       .....................  952 

Total  ..................................  n^ 

«St.Kitts.—Qn  the  10th  August,  1814,  the  missionaries  write 
that  they  have  lately  had  several  very  pleasing  instances  of  ne 
groes  departing  this  life  in  reliance  on  the  merits  of  the  Saviour, 
with  great  joy  arid  the  sure  and  steadfast  hope  of  everlasting  life.'' 

Among  us  it  seems  to  be  but  little  known  what  have  been  the 
providences  of  God  towards  the  slaves  of  the  West  Indies.  The 
following  sketch  is  taken  from  the  Report  of  the  Moravian  Mis 
sionaries,  as  found  in  the  Christian  Observer,  vol.  xvi.  page  64  : 

Missions  to  the  Slaves  in  the 


DANISH  ISLANDS. 

When  begun. 

No.  of  Settlements. 

No.  of  Missionaries. 

St.  Thomas 

) 

2 

•\ 

St.  Croix 

V1732 

3 

I  32 

St.  Jan. 

J 

2 

j 

BRITISH  ISLANDS. 

Jamaica 

1754 

4 

10 

Antigua 

(1756 
1  1817 

ll 

16 

St.  Kitts 

V. 

1775 

-.  ' 

4" 

Barbadoes. 

1738 

3 

11 

SOUTH  AMERICA 
generally. 

J1765 

1 

4 

20 

77 

The  Dutch  took  possession  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  in  1650. 
Slaves  from  various  parts  of  Africa,  Mozambique,  and  the  Malay 
Islands  were  introduced ;  we  have  no  means  of  knowing  to  what 
extent.  Somerville  found  the  city  of  Cape  Town  to  contain  1145 
houses,  5500  white  and  free  people  of  colour,  and  10,000  slaves. 
In  all  of  the  years  1736-1792,  and  1818,  the  Moravians  es 
tablished  27  missionaries  to  the  blacks.  But  they,  nor  no  other 
people,  have  ever  been  able  to  produce  any  considerable  effect 
there,  or  elsewhere,  upon  the  natives,  except  upon  such  as  were  in 


160  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


slavery  among  a  Christian  people.     The  sound  of  the  gospel  had 
no  charms  for  the  wild,  roving  savage. 

*  But,  as  reported  in  the  Christian  Observer,  vol.  xiv.  page  830, 
Campbell  says — "In  the  colony  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  consider 
able  eiforts  have  been  made  of  late,  particularly  by  Sir  John  Cradock, 
aided  by  the  zeal  of  the  colonial  chaplain,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jones,  to 
diffuse  the  blessings  of  Christian  instruction,  not  only  among  the 
slaves,  but  among  all  classes.  *  *  *  Several  of  the  negroes 
read  the  New  Testament  tolerably  well,  and  repeat  questions  from 
Walls's  Catechism :  on  the  Lord's  day  they  were  well-dressed, 
and  attended  church."  But,  page  829,  same  vol.:  "At  Cape 
Town,  Mohammedanism  is  much  on  the  increase.  The  free  Mo 
hammedans  are  strenuous  in  their  efforts  to  make  proselytes  among 
the  slaves,"  &c. 

We  have  endeavoured  to  show  that  the  providences  of  God 
towards  the  African  races  in  slavery  to  Christian  nations,  tend  to 
their  deliverance  from  idolatry,  and  to  their  restoration  to  an  ac 
ceptable  worship  of  the  true  God.  And  may  we  not  inquire 
whether  the  introduction  to  this  worship  was  not  foretold  by  the 
prophets  ?  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  The  labour  of  Egypt,  and 
merchandise  of  Ethiopia  and  of  the  Sabeans,  men  of  stature,  shall 
come  over  unto  thee,  and  they  shall  be  thine  :  they  shall  come 
after  thee  ;  in  chains  they  shall  come  over,  and  they  shall  fall 
down  unto  thee,  they  shall  make  supplication  unto  thee,  saying, 
Surely.,  God  is  in  thee  ;  and  there  is  none  else,  there  is  no  God" 
beside.  Isa.  xlv.  14. 

"  From  beyond  the  rivers  of  Ethiopia,  my  suppliants,  even  the 
daughters  of  my  dispersed,  shall  bring  mine  offering." 

"  I  will  also  leave  in  the  midst  of  thee  an  afflicted  and  poor 
people,  and  they  shall  trust  in  the  name  of  the  Lord."  ZepJi.  iii. 
10,  12. 

The  progress  of  the  Christian  religion  among  the  slaves  of 
the  United  States  is  known  to  the  world,  and  needs  no  mention 
here.  No  such  accounts  have  ever  come  from  the  African  tribes 
at  any  period  of  time.  These  indications  of  the  providence  of 
God  seem  to  show  that  he  smiles  upon  the  institution  of  African 
slavery  in  all  Christian  lands,  and  "that  its  tendencies  are  to 
elevate  the  black  man,  and  make  him  more  intelligent  and  happy 
than  he  would  be  in  his  own  land,  and  that  it  has  a  benevolent 
bearing  on  the  welfare  of  the  slave  in  this  world  and  the  world  to 
come." 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


LESSON  XVI. 

OUR  limits  will  not  permit  an  extended  accumulation  of  the 
testimony  showing  the  degenerate  condition  of  the  African  hordes, 
nor  of  those  facts  showing  the  ameliorating  effect  of  American 
slavery  upon  that  race  of  mankind.     A  large  volume  would  net 
contain  more  than  an  abstract.     This  effect  is  obvious  to  any  one 
acquainted  with  the  race ;  while  the  deep  degradation  of  the  races 
from  which  they  have  descended  has  caused  some  philosophers  to 
adopt  the  opinion  that  they  are  not  of  a  common  origin  with  the 
white  races  of  the  earth.     But  we  present  the  doctrine  that  sin- 
that  any  want  of  conformity  to  the  laws  of  God  touching  our 
health  and  happiness,  our  physical  and  mental  improvement  and 
condition,  has  a  direct  tendency  to  deteriorate  the  animal  man, 
and  that  a  general   abandonment    and    disregard  of  such  laws' 
through  a  long  series  of  generations,  will  be  sufficient  to  account 
for  the  lowest  degradation  found  to  exist.     We  believe  there  is 
truth  in  the  saying,    «  The  fathers   have  eaten  sour  grapes,  and 
the  children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge ;"  that,  when  the  progenitors 
for  a  series  of  ages  manifest  some  particular  quality  or  tendency 
of  action,  the  same  may  be  found,  even  in  an  increased  degree,  in 
their   descendants;    and  that  this  principle  holds  true  to  some 
extent  through  the  whole  animal  world.     Further,  that  such  pro 
gressive  tendency  to  some  particular  mental  or  physical  condition 
may  be  obviated,  and  its  action  reversed,  by  a  sufficient  controlling 
influence  or  force. 

And  if  it  shall  be  found  that  there  may  be  truth  in  this  position, 
we  might  submit  the  inquiry  :  If  God  in  his  wisdom  foresaw  that 
the  family  of  Jacob  would  become  so  degraded,  in  one  generation, 
that  it  would  require  the  counteracting  influence  of  four  hundred 
years  of  slavery  to  place  them  in  a  condition  fit  to  receive  and 
enjoy  the  blessings  promised  their  fathers;  how  long  will  it  require 
a  similar  state  of  control  to  produce  a  like  renovation  among  the 
descendants  of  Ham,  the  degraded  Africans  ?  But  we  think,  so 
far  as  the  inquiry  can  interest  us,  it  has  been  answered  by  St. 
Paul:  "Let  as  many  servants  (Sovtoi,  douloi,  slaves)  as  are 
under  the  yoke,  count  their  own  masters  worthy  of  all  honour, 


162  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


that  the  name  of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed.  And 
they  that  have  believing  masters,  let  them  not  despise  them 
because  they  are  brethren  ;  but  rather  do  them  service  (Sovfave- 
rutfav,  be  slaves  to  them,)  because  they  are  faithful  and  beloved  par 
takers  ^>f  the  benefit.  These  things  teach  and  exhort.  If  any 
man  teach  otherwise,  and  consent  not  to  wholesome  words,  even  to 
the  words  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  the  doctrine  which  is 
according  to  godliness,  he  is  proud,  knowing  nothing,  but  doting 
about  questions  and  strifes  of  words,  whereof  cometh  envy,  strife, 
railings,  evil  surmisings,  perverse  disputings  of  men  of  corrupt 
minds,  and  destitute  of  the  truth,  supposing  that  gain  is  godliness : 
from  such  withdraw  thyself.  But  godliness,  with  contentment,  is 
great  gain,  for  we  brought  nothing  into  this  world,  and  it  is  certain 
that  we  can  carry  nothing  out ;  and  having  food  and  raiment,  let 
us  be  therewith  content.  But  they  that  will  be  rich  fall  into 
temptation  and  a  snare,  and  into  many  foolish  and  hurtful  lusts, 
which  drown  men  in  destruction  and  perdition.  For  the  love  of 
money  is  the  root  of  all  evil ;  which  while  some  covet  after,  they 
have  erred  from  the  faith,  and  pierced  themselves  through  with 
many  sorrow's.  But  thou,  0  man  of  God  !  flee  these  things ;  and 
follow  after  righteousness,  godliness,  faith,  love,  patience,  meek 
ness.  Fight  the  good  fight  of  faith ;  lay  hold  on  eternal  life, 
whereunto  thou  art  also  called,  and  hast  professed  a  good  profes 
sion  before  many  witnesses.  I  give  thee  charge,  in  the  sight  of 
God  who  quickeneth  all  things,  and  before  Jesus  Christ,  who  before 
Pontius  Pilate  witnessed  a  good  confession,  that  thou  keep  this 
commandment  (li'To/lyiV,  an  order,  a  command,  a  precept,  a  charge, 
injunction)  without  spot  (cLGTt&ov,  free  from  stain,  spotless,  fault 
less),  unrebukable  (dveni^nftov,  of  whom  no  hold  can  be  taken, 
not  to  be  attacked,  ir reprehensible),  until  the  appearing  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ."  1  Tim.  vi.  1-14. 

Thus  St.  Paul  has  told  us  how  long  this  doctrine  shall  be  taught ; 
that  it  shall  be  taught  free  from  any  alteration,  change  ;  free  from 
any  stain,  pure  and  spotless  ;  and  that  his  manner  of  teaching  it 
shall  be  plain,  simple,  open,  and  bold  ;  so  that  there  could  be  no 
hold  taken  of  him ;  and  the  doctrines,  instructions,  counsels  and 
commands  here  given  were  to  be  so  taught,  until  the  coming  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

But  Mr.  Barnes  says,  page  194 — 

"  If  we  may  draw  an  inference  also  from  this  case,  (the  Hebrews 
in  Egypt,)  in  regard  to  the  manner  in  which  God  would  have  such 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


a  people  (slaves  in  America)  restored  to  freedom,  it  would  be 
in  favour  of  immediate  emancipation." 

God  himself  sentenced  the  Hebrews  to  slavery  for  four  hundred 
years.  "  And  when  the  sun  was  going  down,  a  deep  sleep  fell 
upon  Abram  ;  and  lo,  a  horror  of  great  darkness  fell  upon  him. 
And  he  said  unto  Abram,  Know  of  a  surety  that  thy  seed  shall  be 
a  stranger  in  a  land  that  is  not  theirs,  and  shall  serve  (DIID^I 
va  sebadum,  shall  be  slaves  to,  or  shall  slave  themselves  to)  them, 
and  they  shall  afflict  them  four  hundred  years."  Gf-en.  xv.  12,  13. 
At  the  expiration  of  which  time  he  delivered  them  from  it.  An 
instance  drawn  from  their  case  can  be  legitimately  applied  only  to 
one  where  the  term  of  servitude  has  been  determined. 

God  made  no  attempt  to  liberate  the  Hebrews  until  the  expira 
tion  of  the  term  allotted  them  for  servitude.  Mr.  Barnes  evidently 
applies  his  inference  to  the  abolition  of  the  institution  generally, 
and  thus  places  himself  in  opposition  to  St.  Paul.  But  our  mind 
has  come  to  the  decision  that  the  apostle  is  the  higher  authority. 
And  the  inquiry  is  also  left  upon  the  mind,  whether,  in  the  matter 
of  his  whole  book,  Mr.  Barnes  has  not  "run  before  he  was  sent;" 
whereby  he  may  have  subjected  himself  to  the  mortification  of 
again  seeing,  in  his  own  case,  the  counsels  of  Achitophel  turned 
into  foolishness. 


LESSON  XVII. 

MB.  BARNES  has  quoted  some  few  passages  of  Scripture  to  which 
he  applies  a  meaning  we  deem  erroneous;  but  we  attach  no  blame  to 
him  on  this  account ;  because  our  English  version  itself,  of  the  pas 
sages  referred  to,  has  a  tendency  to  lead  to  an  inadequate  concep 
tion  of  the  idea  conveyed  by  the  original.  The  doctor  says,  page 
128 — "  That  even  the  servant  that  was  bought  was  to  have  com 
pensation  for  his  labour  ;  and  there  are  some  general  principles  laid 
down,  which,  if  applied,  would  lead  to  that :  thus,  Jer.  xxii.  13, 
4  Wo  unto  him  that  buildeth  his  house  by  unrighteousness,  and  his 
chambers  by  wrong;  that  uses  his  neighbour's  service  without 
wages,  and  giveth  him  not  for  his  work.'  "  He  quotes  this  same 
passage  for  the  same  purpose,  pp.  353  and  360,  and  seems  to  regard 
it  as  a  secure  pillar,  and  on  which  he  founds  his  doctrines.  The 


164  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


words,  "tliat  useth  his  neighbour's   service  without  wages,   and 
giveth  him  not  for  his  work,"  are  translated  from 


DJH  -DIP  injna  E 

The  passage  admits  of  two  additional  readings,  thus :  Who  shall 
judge  for  a  neighbour  as  to  his  slave  undeservedly  rw  wages,  no 
gifts  ;  or,  Who  shall  have  adjudged  as  to  his  neighbour  that  he 
shall  slave  himself,  undeservedly  or  gratuitously,  without  ivages  or 
reward.  The  meaning  is :  Who  shall  corruptly  judge  that  his 
neighbour  shall  not  receive  wages  or  compensation  for  the  services 
of  his  slave  ;  or,  that  the  neighbour  himself  shall  so  slave  himself 
to  another  without  wages  or  compensation.  The  word  "1DP  a  s^ave 
is  often  used  as  a  verb,  to  express  such  action  as  would  be  that  of 
a  slave. 

On  page  67,  Mr.  Barnes  says — "The  word,  dv8oano8iGr^<;9 
andrapodistes,  occurs  once,  1  Tim.  i.  10,  with  the  most  marked 
disapprobation  of  the  thing  denoted  by  it.  c  The  law  is  made  for 
murderers  of  fathers,  murderers  of  mothers,  for  manslayers,  for 
whoremongers,  for  man-stealers,  for  liars/  &c. " 

The  truth  is,  that  the  word  <5oi>/logj  doulos,  is  the  peculiar  word 
to  denote  slavery,  and  is  so  used  in  the  New  Testament  and  every 
where  else  ;  but  this  word  also  means  slave,  &c.,  and  is  never  used 
disconnected  from  the  idea  of  slavery,  but  carries  with  it  the  idea 
of  some  change,  as  to  place,  condition,  2^ossession,  or  ownership. 
We  shall  notice  how  some  men  are  striving  to  change  the  Greek, 
as  to  the  meaning  of  the  word  &ovho$,  doulos,  because,  unless  they 
do  so,  the  New  Testament  is  strongly  against  them.  However,  of 
the  word  used  in  1  Tim.  i.  10,  (irSpaTto&O'T'atg?  andrapodistais,  it 
is  true,  that  it  is  used  u  with  the  most  marked  disapprobation  of 
the  thing  denoted  by  it;"  and  it  is  just  as  true  that  the  thing  de 
noted  by  it  is  the  stealing  and  enticing  away  other  mens  slaves ! 
Slave-stealers  is  its  only  and  legitimate  meaning  in  the  place  used. 
Had  St.  Paul  intended  to  express  the  idea,  men-stealers,  he  would 
have  used  the  word  OLvOpCdTtoxfaTttam:;,  anthropokleptais ;  which 
would  have  expressed  the  very  thing  wanted  by  Mr.  Barnes.  We 
shall  examine  these  words  in  another  portion  of  our  study.  But 
Mr.  Barnes  does  not  appear  to  be  aware  why  it  was  that  St.  Paul 
instructed  Timothy  that  the  law  was  made  for  slave-stealers  :  for 
whose  benefit  we  will  explain ;  and  by  which  explanation  he  will 
learn  that  the  abolitionists  commenced  their  labours  during  the  days 
of  the  apostles.  From  some  of  the  relations  of  Christianity,  not 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


well  understood  by  the  Gentile  churches,  tho  idea  was  entertained 
by  some  that  the  operation  of  Christianity  abolished  the  bonds  of 
matrimony  between  a  believing  and  an  unbelieving  party  ;  that  it 
abolished  the  authority  of  an  unbelieving  parent  over  a  believing 
child  ;  that  it  abolished  slavery  in  case  the  slave  was  converted  to 
the  faith,  and  especially  if  the  master  belonged  to  the  household 
of  God.  On  these  subjects  and  others,  the  Corinthian  church  ad 
dressed  St.  Paul  for  instruction  and  advice.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  their  letter  has  not  come  down  to  us  ;  but,  we  can  gather  what 
it  contained,  from  the  answer  of  St.  Paul  :  "  Now  concerning  the 
things  whereof  ye  wrote  unto  me."  1  Cor.  vii.  1. 

Touching  the  subject  before  us,  see  his  answer  in  the  20th  to 
the  25th  verse  ;  and  the  same  subject  continued  in  flph.  vi.  5-10  ; 
also  Col  iii.  22-25  ;  he  found  it  necessary  to  instruct  Titus  on  this 
subject:  see  Tit.  ii.  9-15,  and,  finally,  as  in  the  passage  before 
us,  and  also  vi.  1-15.  St.  Peter  also  found  it  necessary  to  correct 
the  errors  of  these  abolitionists,  and  to  give  them  instruction  on 
this  subject.  1  Pet.  ii.  18-?  5. 

Had  St.  Paul  regarded  slavery  as  an  evil,  he  certainly  had  no 
excuse  for  not  denouncing  it.  Nor  do  we  know  of  any  of  the  early 
fathers  of  the  church  that  did  so.  St.  Ignatius,  in  his  second 
epistle  to  Poly  carp,  says  —  "  Overlook  not  the  men  and  maid  ser 
vants.  Let  them  be  the  more  subject  to  the  glory  of  God,  that 
they  may  obtain  from  him  a  better  liberty.  Let  them  not  desire 
to  be  set  free  at  public  cost,  that  they  be  not  slaves  to  their  own 
lusts."  See  also,  General  Epistle  of  Barnabas,  xiv.  15  :  "  Thou  shalt 
not  be  bitter  in  thy  commands  towards  any  of  thy  servants  that 
trust  in  God,  lest  thou  chance  not  to  fear  him  who  is  over  both  ; 
because  he  came  not  to  call  any  with  respect  to  persons,  but  vT'om- 
soever  the  Spirit  prepared." 

Such  is  the  construction  of  the  human  mind,  and  of  human  lan 
guage,  that  whenever  a  thing  is  made  a  subject  of  remark,  or 
merely  brought  to  mind,  it,  of  necessity,  must  be  so,  in  one  of 
three  positions  :  cither  a  thing  to  be  commended  ;  to  be  repre 
hended  ;  or  as  a  thing  of  total  indifference.  A  glaring  sin  and  gross 
evil  could  not  have  been  a  thin&  of  indifference  to  Jesus  Christ  and 
his  apostles.  They,  therefore,  cannot  be  supposed  to  have  acted 
honestly  in  not  condemning  a  sin,  when  by  them  mentioned,  or 
brought  to  mind.  It  is  a  supposition  too  gross  for  refutation  ! 

But  it  is  conceded  by  Mr.  Barnes,  page  260,  that  "  the  apostles 
did  not  openly  denounce  slavery  as  an  evil,  or  require  that  those 


166  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


who  were  held  in  bondage  should  be  at  once  emancipated.  *  *  * 
These  things  seem  to  me  to  lie  on  the  face  of  the  New  Testament ; 
and  whatever  argument  they  may  furnish  to  the  advocates  of 
slavery  in  disposing  of  these  facts,  it  seems  plain  that  the  facts 
themselves  cannot  be  denied." 

The  facts,  then,  must  stand  in  commendation  and  approval. 
They  cannot  be  got  rid  of  by  arguing  ever  so  ingeniously,  that 
Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  were  cunning ;  that  they  acted  with 
prudence  ;  that  they  dexterously  taught  it  to  be  an  evil  by  implica 
tion  ;  or  that  they  acted  with  deep-seated  and  far-reaching  expe 
diency ;  nor  by  any  other  subterfuge  by  which  the  enemies  of  God 
are  striving  to  mould  his  essence  and  character  into  an  idol  to  suit 
themselves. 


LESSON  XVIII. 

"  IF,  however,  it  should  be  conceded  that  this  passage  (Lev.  xxv. 
45,  46)  means  that  the  heathen  might  be  subjected  to  perpetual 
bondage,  and  that  the  intention  was  not  that  they  should  be  re 
leased  in  the  year  of  jubilee,  still  it  will  not  follow  that  this  is  a 
justification  of  perpetual  slavery  as  it  exists  in  the  United  States. 
For,  even  on  that  supposition,  the  concession  was  one  made  to 
them,  not  to  any  other  people."  Barnes,  p.  156. 

This  is  not  the  first  time  the  abolitionists  have  presented  this 
proposition,  and  seem  to  deem  it  insurmountable.  Therefore, 
it  may  merit  a  few  words  of  inquiry. 

Is  it  contended  that  God  ever  grants  or  denies,  or,  in  other 
words,  acts,  except  in  conformity  with  some  universal  rule  or  law 
of  his  providence  and  government  ?  For,  to  suppose  otherwise, 
must  involve  the  consideration  of  an  inferior  and  capricious  being. 
If  God,  on  any  occasion,  permitted  slavery,  then  it  is  deducible 
from  the  unchangeableness  of  God  and  his  laws,  that  he  always 
permits  it,  when  all  the  circumstances  and  conditions  shall  be  found 
to  exist  as  they  were  when  he  did  so  permit  it.  The  Jews,  as  a 
nation,  were  God's  people  ;  his  worshippers,  his  church.  "  And  ye 
shall  be  unto  me  a  kingdom  of  priests,  and  a  holy  nation."  Exod. 
xix.  6.  "For  thou  art  a  holy  people  unto  the  Lord  thy  God: 
The  Lord  thy  God  hath  chosen  thee  to  be  a  special  people  unto 
himself,  above  all  people  that  are  upon  the  face  of  the  earth." 
Deut.  vii.  6. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


16* 


But,  in  the  order  of  God's  providence,  other  people  were  to  be 
the  recipients  of  the  grace  of  God  also  :  "And  it  shall  come  to  pass 
in  the  last  days,  that  the  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house  shall  be 
established  in  the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  shall  be  exalted  above 
the  hills  :  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it."  Isa.  ii.  2. 

"Sing  and  rejoice,  0  daughter  of  Zion;  for  lo,'I  come,  and  I 
will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  thee,  saith  the  Lord.  And  many  na 
tions  shall  be  joined  to  the  Lord  in  that  day,  and  shall  be  my 
people."  Zech.  ii.  10,  11. 

This  is  in  strict  conformity  with  the  promise  of  Jehovah  to 
Isaac:  "And  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be 
blessed."  0-en.  xxvi.  4. 

The  time  of  this  great  enlargement  of  the  church  of  God  was 
the  advent  of  the  Saviour.  The  Christian  church  succeeded  as 
heirs  of  all  the  promises,  benefits,  and  free  grace  of  the  ancient 
church  and  people  of  God;— in  fact,  became  heirs  of  Abraham  ;— 
"And  the  father  of  circumcision  to  them,  who  are  not  of  the  cir 
cumcision  only,  but  who  walk  in  the  steps  of  that  faith  of  our 
father  Abraham,  which  he  had  being  yet  uncircumcised.  For  the 
promise  that  he  should  be  the  heir  of  the  world  was  not  to 
Abraham,  or  to  his  seed  through  the  law,  but  through  the  right 
eousness  of  faith."  *  *  *  "Therefore  it  is  of  faith,  that 
it  might  be  by  grace ;  to  the  end  the  promise  might  be  sure  to  all 
the  seed ;  not  to  that  only  which  is  of  the  law,  but  to  that  also 
which  is  of  the  faith  of  Abraham,  who  is  the  father  of  us  all,  (as 
it  is  written,  I  have  made  thee  the  father  of  many  nations,)  before 
him  whom  he  believed,  even  God,  who  quickeneth  the  dead,  and 
calleth  those  things  which  be  not,  as  though  they  were."  Romans 
iv.  11,  12,  16,  17. 

"  Therefore  remember,  that  ye  being  in  times  past  Gentiles  in 
the  flesh,  who  are  called  uncircumcision  by  that  which  is  called 
the  circumcision  in  the  flesh  made  by  hands ; 

"That  at  that  time  ye  were  without  Christ,  being  aliens  from 
the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  and  strangers  from  the  covenant  of 
promise,  having  no  hope,  and  without  God  in  the  world. 

"  But  now  in  Christ  Jesus,  ye  who  sometime  were  afar  off,  are 
made  nigh  by  the  blood  of  Christ ;  for  he  is  our  peace,  who  hath 
made  both  one ;  and  hath  broken  down  the  middle  wall  of  parti 
tion  between  us."  Eph.  ii.  11,  12,  13, 14. 

"  Know  ye,  therefore,  that  they  which  are  of  faith,  the  same 
are  children  of  Abraham.  And  the  scripture  foreseeing  that  God 


158  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

would  justify  the  heathen  by  faith,  preached  before  the  gospel  to 
Abraham,  saying,  In  thee  shall  all  nations  be  blessed."  Gral. 
iii.  7,  8. 

And  wherefore  Peter  very  properly  describes  the  Gentile  church 
of  Christ  by  similar  language  applied  to  the  Jews,  the  chosen  people 
of  God  to  whom  the  promises  of  the  law  were  made :  "  But  ye  are 
a  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priesthood,  a  holy  nation,  a  peculiar 
people ;  that  ye  should  show  forth  the  praises  of  him  who  hath 
called  you  out  of  darkness  into  his  marvellous  light ;  which  in  time 
past  were  not  a  people,  but  are  now  a  people  of  God ;  which  had 
not  obtained  mercy,  but  have  now  obtained  mercy."  1  Peter 
ii.  9,  10. 

The  theological  student  will  recollect  many  more  very  pertinent 
proofs  of  the  heirship  of  the  Christian  church  to  the  chosen  people 
of  God.  "Think  not  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law,  or  the 
prophets  ;  I  come  not  to  destroy  the  law,  but  to  fulfil."  Matt.  v.  17. 

So  far  then  as  the  Gentile  nations  have  become  Christianized, 
have  become  the  followers  of  Christ,  so  far  they  have,  through 
faith,  become  the  peculiar  people  of  God,  and  heirs  and  children 
of  Abraham ;  and,  as  heirs,  succeeded  to  all  things  resulting  from 
the  providence  and  grace  of  God  to  his  peculiar  people. 

The  broad  and  universal  principle  concerning  slavery  is,  that  a 
want  of  knowledge  of  the  true  God,  a  want  of  conformity  to  his 
law,  have  a  constantly  deteriorating  effect,  whereas,  on  the  con 
trary,  a  knowledge  of  Jehovah  and  a  conduct  in  conformity  to  his 
law,  (since  the  fallen  state  of  man  renders  him  unable  to  comply 
with  the  law)  the  application  of  God's  grace,  and  free  forgiveness 
through  faith  and  repentance,  bhall  have  the  redeeming  effect  of 
a  full  compliance  with  the  law.  As  the  one  position  is  deteriorating, 
forcing  as  it  were  downward  to  destruction  and  death, — the  other  is 
as  constantly  elevating  towards  all  perfection  and  life  eternal. 

Thus  the  mercy  of  God  is  manifested  to  the  degraded  and  heathen 
nations,  by  substantially  placing  them  under  a  protection  and 
guidance,  which,  however  slow  may  be  the  progress,  must  of  ne 
cessity  have  an  elevating  influence  on  thousands,  in  proportion  as 
they,  with  heart-felt  willingness,  yield  themselves  to  it.  "  Oh, 
that  ir.en  would  praise  the  Lord  for  his  goodness,  and  for  his  won 
derful  works  to  the  children  of  men  !  For  he  s^tisfieth  the  long 
ing  soul,  and  filleth  the  hungry  soul  with  goodness.  Such  as  sit 
in  'arkness  and  the  shadow  of  death,  being  bound  in  affliction  and 
iron ;  because  they  rebelled  against  the  words  of  God,  and  con- 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  1(59 

temned  the  counsels  of  the  Most  High :  therefore,  he  brought 
down  their  heart  with  labour ;  they  fell  down,  there  was  none  to 
help.  Then  they  cried  unto  the  Lord  in  their  trouble,  and  he 
raised  them  out  of  their  distresses.  He  brought  them  out  of  dark 
ness  and  the  shadow  of  death,  and  brake  their  bands  in  sunder. 
Oh,  that  men  would  praise  the  Lord  for  his  goodness,  and  for  his 
wonderful  works  to  the  children  of  men."  Psa.  cvii.  8-15. 

In  conclusion,  we  may  remark,  that  under  this  View  of  the  law, 
the  announcements  of  holy  writ,  so  far  as  they  regard  the  subject 
under  consideration,  are  as  applicable  to  the  Christian  people  of  the 
present  day  as  they  at  any  time  were  to  the  Hebrews  themselves. 

"  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  The  labour  of  Egypt,  and  merchandise 
of  Ethiopia,  and  of  the  Sabeans,  men  of  stature,  shall  come  over 
unto  thee,  and  they  shall  be  thine  :  they  shall  come  after  thee ;  in 
chains  they  shall  come  over,  and  they  shall  fall  down  unto  thee, 
they  shall  make  supplication  unto  thee,  saying.  Surely  God  is  in 
thee  ;  and  there  is  none  else,  there  is  no  God"  beside.  Isa.  xlv.  14. 


LESSON  XIX. 

MR.  BARNES  has  referred  to  Vatalbus,  Rabbi  Solomon,  Abenezra 
Joh.  Gasp.  Mie'gius,  Constitutiones  Servi  Hebrsei,  Ugolin,  Maimo- 
nides,  Michaelis,  John's  Archaeology,  Selden  de  Uxore  Hebraica, 
and  some  other  books  which  are  not  at  hand,  in  support  of  his 
doctrine,  and  the  points  on  which  he  predicates  it.  We  did  not 
doubt  the  accuracy  of  these  references  and  quotations  ;  but,  page 
149,  we  find  the  following  in  his  book :  "It  would  appear  from 
Josephus,  that  on  the  year  of  jubilee  all  slaves  were  set  at  liberty ;" 
and  he  refers  to  "  Antiquities,"  vol.  ii.  chap.  xii.  sec.  3,  which,  so 
far  as  it  refers  to  slavery,  reads  thus  :  "Accordingly  I  enjoin  thee 
to  make  no  more  delays,  but  to  make  haste  to  Egypt,  and  to  travel 
night  and  day,  and  not  to  draw  out  the  time,  and  to  make  the 
slavery  of  the  Hebrews  and  their  sufferings  to  last  the  longer." 

We  do  not  see  how  the  passage  warrants  the  assertion  of  Mr. 
Barnes,  and  apprehended  some  mistake,  such  as  a  young  lawyer, 
willing  to  appear  very  learned,  might  make,  by  affixing  to  his 
brief  a  long  list  of  authorities,  merely  from  an  examination  of  his 
index. 


170  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

But  tne  sentence  here  quoted  from  Mr.  Barnes,  containing  the 
proposition  that  Josephus  said,  in  his  Antiquities,  vol.  ii.  chap,  xii 
sec.  3,  that  all  slaves  were  set  at  liberty  in  the  year  of  jubilee,  is 
consecutively  followed  in  his  book,  thus :  "  The  fiftieth  year  is 
called  by  the  Hebrews  the  jubilee,  wherein  debtors  are  freed  from 
their  debts,  and  slaves  are  set  at  liberty."  And  this  sentence  is 
marked  as  quoted  from  Josephus,  and  as  though  it  was  the  exact 
passage  to  be  found  in  the  place  just  before  referred  to.  The  fact 
is,  this  sentence*  is  nearly  a  part  of  what  may  be  found  in  book  iii. 
chap.  xii.  sec.  3  of  Antiquities,  thus:  "And  that  fiftieth  year  is 
called  by  the  Hebrews  the  jubilee  wherein  debtors  are  freed  from 
their  debts,  and  slaves  are  set  at  liberty ;  which  slaves  became  such, 
though  they  were  of  the  same  stock,  by  transgressing  some  of 
those  laws  whose  punishment  was  not  capital,  but  they  were  pu 
nished  by  this  method  of  slavery." 

Suppose  the  mistake  to  be  in  the  number  of  the  book,  still,  does 
the  passage,  as  fully  quoted,  give  any  authority  for  the  assertion 
of  Mr.  Barnes  ?  Thus  the  mind  is  led  to  inquire  what  credit  is  to 
be  given  to  these  references  ? 

But  we  hasten  to  give  a  few  extracts  illustrative  of  Mr.  Barnes's 
thought  and  argument.  He  says,  p.  126 — 

"  Considering  the  universal  prevalence  of  slavery  when  the 
gospel  was  preached,  it  is  not  probable  that  any  considerable 
number  would  be  found,  who  were  masters  and  servants  in  the 
sense  of  a  voluntary  servitude  on  the  part  of  the  latter."  He  says — 

Page  273  :  "  The  permanency  of  the  institution  (slavery)  can 
derive  no  support  from  what  they  (the  apostles)  said  on  the  sub 
ject,  and  in  no  manner  depends  on  it." 

Page  300:  "  It  is  only  the  antagonistic  fanaticism  of  a  fragment 
of  the  South,  which  maintains  the  doctrine  that  slavery  is,  in 
itself,  a  good  thing,  and  ought  to  be  perpetuated.  It  cannot  by 
possibility  be  perpetuated." 

Page  301 :  "The  South,  therefore,  has  to  choose  between  emanci 
pation,  by  the  silent  and  holy  influence  of  the  gospel,  securing  the 
elevation  of  the  slaves  to  the  stature  and  character  of  freemen,  or  to 
abide  the  issue  of  a  long  continued  conflict  against  the  laws  o^ 
God." 

Page  306:  "And  if  a  Christian  master  at   the  present  time 
*     *     should  be  troubled  in  his   conscience  in   regard  to  his 
right  to  hold  slaves,  there  is  no  part  of  the  apostolic  writings  to 
which  he  could  turn  to  allay  his  feelings  or  calm  his  scruples," 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  171 

Page  311:  "Now  this  undeniable  fact,  that  the  right  of  the 
master  over  the  person  and  services  of  the  slave,  is  never  recognised 
at  all  in  the  New  Testament." 

Page  312 :  "  Whatever  distinction  of  complexion  there  may  be, 
it  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible  that  all  belong  to  one  and  the  same 
great  family,  and  that,  in  the  most  important  matters  pertaining  to 
their  existence,  they  are  on  a  level." 

Page  315 :  "  Up  to  the  time  when  its  truths  (the  gospel's)  were 
made  known,  the  great  mass  of  mankind  had  no  scruples  about  its 
propriety ;  they  regarded  one  portion  of  the  race  as  inferior  to  the 
other,  and  as  born  to  be  slaves.  Christianity  disclosed  the  great 
truth  that  all  men  were  on  a  level;  that  all  were  equal." 

Page  317 :  "If  a  man  should  in  fact  render  to  his  slaves  <  that 
which  is  just  and  equal;'  would  he  not  restore  them  to  freedom? 
Would  any  thing  short  of  this  be  all  that  is  just  and  equal  ?" 

Page  322  :  "  No  man  has  a  right  to  assume  that  when  the  word 
g,  doulos,  occurs  in  the  New  Testament,  it  means  a  slave." 

Page  331 :  "  No  argument  in  favour  of  slavery  can  be  derived  from 
the  injunctions  addressed  by  the  apostles  to  the  slaves  themselves." 

Page  340 :  "From  the  arguments  thus  far  presented  in  regard 
to  the  relations  of  Christianity  to  slavery,  it  seems  fair  to  draw 
the  conclusion,  that  the  Christian  religion  lends  no  sanction  to 
slavery." 

Page  341 :  "  The  Saviour  and  his  apostles  inculcated  such  views 
of  man  as  amount  to  a  prohibition  of  slavery."  Page  345:  "He 
(Jesus  Christ)  was  not  a  Jew,  except  by  the  accident  of  his  birth, 
but  he  was  a  man  ;  in  his  human  form  there  was  as  distinct  a  re 
lation  to  the  African  *  *  *  as  there  was  to  the  Caucasian." 

We  have  understood  that  one  popular  clergyman  at  the  North 
(an  abolitionist)  has  gone  so  far  as  to  say  that  Jesus  Christ  was  a 
negro  !  To  what  folly  and  extravagance  will  not  wickedness  sub 
ject  its  slaves ! 

Mr.  Barnes  says,  page  375 — "  These  considerations  seem  to  me 
to  be  conclusive  proof  that  Christianity  was  not  designed  to  extend  and 
perpetuate  slavery ;  but  that  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  religion  would 
remove  it  from  the  world,  because  it  is  an  evil,  and  displeasing  to  Grod. " 

To  all  of  which,  worthy  of  answer,  it  may  be  well  to  apply  the 
sentiment  which  he  attributes  to  Dr.  Fuller,  that  the  New  Testa 
ment  is  not  silent  on  the  subject  of  slavery ;  that  it  recognises  the 
relation ;  that  it  commands  slaves  to  obey  their  masters,  and  gives 
reasons  why  they  should  do  so.  And  it  may  be  steadily  affirmed, 


172  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


if  slavery  be  a  sin,  that  such  commands  and  counsels  are  not  only 
a  suppressio  veri,  but  a  suggestio  falsi ;  not  only  a  suppression  of 
the  truth,  but  a  suggestion  of  what  is  false ! 

If  it  shall  be  said  that  God  merely  sanctioned  or  permitted 
slavery  in  the  time  of  the  patriarchs,  who  will  say  that  he  did  not 
enjoin  it  in  the  time  of  Moses  ?  A  repeal  of  this  injunction  de 
manded  a  countervailing  revelation  of  no  equivocal  character,  clear 
and  decided,  without  the  admission  of  a  doubt. 

"  And  God  spake  unto  Moses  in  Mount  Sinai,  saying,  *  * 
But  thy  bond-men  and  bond-maids  which  thou  shalt  have,  shall  be 
of  the  heathen  that  are  round  about  you ;  of  them  shall  ye  buy 
bond-men  and  bond-maids.  Moreover,  of  the  children  of  the 
strangers  that  do  sojourn  among  you,  of  them  shall  ye  buy  and 
of  their  families,  which  they  beget  in  your  land ;  and  they  shall 
be  your  possession.  And  ye  shall  take  them  as  an  inheritance, 
for  your  children  after  you,  to  inherit  them  for  a  possession :  they 
shall  be  your  bond-men  for  ever."  Lev.  xxv.  1,  44,  45,  46. 

Mr.  Barnes  has  adduced  no  proof  that  this  law  was  ever  re 
pealed  ;  nor  do  the  holy  books  contain  any  evidence  of  such  re 
peal  ;  yet  he  has  denied  the  existence  of  slavery  in  Judea,  at  the 
time  of  the  advent  of  the  Saviour.  See  pp.  228,  242,  244,  and 
249,  before  quoted,  and,  we  trust,  sufficiently  refuted.  But  we 
now  add,  that  at  the  time  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  were  on 
the  earth,  Judea  was  a  province  of  Rome.  Now,  since  it  was 
clear  that  slavery  was  inculcated  by  the  Hebrew  laws,  unless  it 
was  forbidden  by  the  Roman,  we  could  not  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  slavery  did  not  exist  in  Judea  at  their  time,  even  if  Jesus 
Christ  and  his  apostles  had  never  alluded  to  it. 

But, — see  Matt.  xxvi.  51 :  "  Behold,  one  of  them  which  were  with 
Jesus  stretched  out  his  hand  and  diew  his  sword  and  struck  the 
servant  (Soitiov,  doulon,  slave)  of  the  high-priest,"  then  some 
suitable  but  different  word  would  have  been  used,  as  in  the  follow 
ing:  "And  the  servants  (5oi).1oi?  doidoi,  slaves)  and  officers 
(iTtypttai,  huperetai,  attendants,  persons  who  aid,  assistants) 
stood  there,"  John  xviii.  18;  proving  the  fact  that  both  slaves 
and  other  attendants  were  present,  and  that  the  slave  was  named 
distinctly  from  such  other  attendanic5.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
about  these  Tacts ;  and  in  proof  that  slavery  was  not  forbidden  by 
the  Roman  laws,  we  quote  from  Mr.  Barnes,  page  251 :  "  In  Italy, 
it  was  computed  that  there  were  three  slaves  to  one  freeman;  and 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  173 


in  this  part  of  the  empire  alone,  their  numbers  amounted  to  more 
than  twenty  millions." 

Page  252 :  *  *  *  "  The  number  of  slaves  could  not  have 
been  less  than  sixty  millions  in  the  Roman  Empire,  at  about  the 
time  the  apostles  went  forth  to  preach  the  gospel." 

Page  254:  *  *  *  "The  following  places  are  mentioned, 
either  as  emporia  for  slaves  or  countries  from  which  they  were 
procured:  Delos,  Phrygia,  and  Cappadocia,  Panticapseum,  Dias- 
curias,  and  Phanagoria  on  the  Euxine  or  Black  Sea ;  Alexandria 
and  Cadiz  ;  Corsica,  Sardinia,  and  Britain  ;  Africa  and  Thrace." 

And  does  it  astonish  us  that  in  these  dark  ages  of  human  degra 
dation,  Britain  helped  to  supply  Rome  with  slaves  ?  It  should  be 
remembered  that  conquest  gave  the  right  in  ancient  days  to  en 
slave  all  barbarous  and  deeply  degraded  nations ;  and  it  might  be 
inquired  whether  such  principle  was  not  alluded  to  by  the  prophet : 
"  Shall  the  prey  be  taken  from  the  mighty,  or  the  lawful  captive 
delivered."  Isa.  xlix.  24.  History  will  inform  us  that  all  these 
nations  were  of  the  lowest  order.  St.  Jerome,  in  his  writings 
against  Jovinian,  informs  us  what  were  the  morals  of  Britain.  He 
says — «  Why  should  I  refer  to  other  nations,  when  I  myself,  when 
a  youth  in  Gaul,  have  seen  the  Atticotti,  a  British  tribe,  eating 
human  flesh  ?  Should  they  find  shepherds  tending  their  herds  <tf 
swine  or  cattle,  and  flocks  of  sheep  in  the  woods,  they  are  wont 
to  cut  off  the  fleshy  parts  of  the  men,  and  the  breasts  of  the 
women,  which  are  esteemed  the  most  delicious  food." 

Who  then  is  to  say  that  Britain  is  not  now  indebted  for  her 
high  state  of  intellectual  improvement  to  the  pike,  bludgeon,  and 
sword  of  the  Roman,  Dane,  Saxon,  and  Norman?  And  can  we 
say  that  the  hand  of  God  was  not  in  this?  The  same  providences 
and  principles  that  have  ever  applied  to  degraded  Africa  apply  to 
all  degraded  nations,  and  even  to  individual  men.  "  Whosoever 
committeth  sin  is  the  servant  (<5oi)^og?  doulos,  slave)  of  sin." 

And  it  may  be  said  that  nations  and  individuals  thus  enslave 
themselves.  "  Behold,  for  your  iniquities  ye  have  sold  yourselves." 
Isa.  1.  1.  These  principles  may  be  seen  every  day  operating 
among  the  most  degraded  of  even  the  most  enlightened  nations. 
The  history  of  the  present  day  informs  us  of  the  deep  degradation 
of  the  African  tribes ;  and  that  even  in  their  own  country  the 
great  mass  are  slaves.  Consistently  with  the  laws  of  God,  they 
could  not  be  otherwise ;  and  even  slavery  among  themselves,  sub 
ject  to  sacrifice  and  death  as  we  have  seen  it,  is  yet  better  for 


174  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

them  than  a  state  of  freedom.  We  have  seen  how  the  free  hordes 
roam  like  the  brutes,  making  that  place  home  where  night  over 
took  them.  Suppose  such  to  be  cannibals,  of  which  we  have 
proof,  it  might  so  happen,  that,  in  one  day,  one  half  of  their 
number  would  be  destroyed  by  themselves.  Therefore,  as  dis 
tressing  as  slavery  must  be  among  them,  yet  it  is  far  preferable  to 
their  dejected  condition  of  freedom. 

We  know  of  no  one  who  pretends  to  believe  that  the  masses  of 
the  African  tribes  have  increased  in  number  since  the  commence 
ment  of  our  era ;  whereas,  a  few  scattering  individuals,  brought 
into  slavery,  within  the  last  few  generations,  in  these  States,  have 
increased  to  near  four  millions ;  nearly  one-twelfth  of  the  number 
of  the  entire  population  of  Africa.  However  wicked  may  be  the 
Christian  master,  how  much  more  is  slavery  to  be  desired  by  the 
negro  than  any  condition  among  these  pagan  hordes !  We,  there 
fore,  do  not  deem  it  presumptuous  to  say,  that  so  degraded  is  the 
condition  of  the  African  in  his  own  land,  that  it  has  been  elevated 
in  proportion  as  it  has  been  affected  by  the  slave-trade,  and  more 
especially  with  Christian  nations.  The  first  tendencies  towards 
civilization,  and  whatever  dawning  of  mental  development  there 
may  be  now  noticed  among  the  African  tribes,  are  traceable  alone 
to  that  source.  And  the  Christian  philosopher  might  well  inquire 
whether,  in  the  providence  of  God,  its  existence,  from  the  time  of 
Noah  to  the  present,  has  not  been  the  saving  principle  which  has 
alone  preserved  the  tribes  of  Ham  from  the  condition  of  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah,  and  other  nations  long  since  wasted  away. 


LESSON  XX. 

MR.  BARNES  has  quoted  and  adopted  the  following  passage  from 
President  Wayland,  page  310  :  "  If  the  religion  of  Christ  allows 
such  a  license  (to  hold  slaves)  from  such  precepts  as  these,  the  New 
Testament  would  be  the  greatest  curse  that  ever  was  inflicted  on 
our  race."  On  the  account  of  the  avowal  of  Dr.  Barnes  as  to  his 
race,  heretofore  noticed,  we  feel  a  degree  of  gladness  that  the 
above  passage  is  not  original  with  him  :  we  should  expect  to  find 
in  him  a  sympathy  on  this  subject,  unpleasant  to  encounter,  be 
cause  legitimately  acting  on  his  mind.  A  man  may  be  a  philosopher 


STUDIES   ON  SLAVERY.  175 


or  a  Christian,  yet  the  ties  of  nature,  the  sympathies  of  kindred 
are  not  abated. 

We  are  informed  that  heretofore,  written  arguments  in  favour  of 
abolitionism  by  Dr.  Wayland  and  against  it  by  Dr.  Fuller,  have 
been  published.  We  have  not  seen  the  work ;  but  are  told  that 
the  abolitionists  claim  victory  for  Dr.  Wayland,  and  that  the  oppo 
nents  also  claim  it  for  Dr.  Fuller  ;  and  from  the  foregoing  passage 
as  quoted,  we  conclude  that  Dr.  Wayland  found  himself,  at  least, 
in  straits  on  the  subject.  If  such  be  the  fact,  it  may  account  why 
the  abolitionists  thought  Dr.  Barnes's  present  work  necessary. 
But,  however  these  things  may  be,  the  passage  from  Dr.  Wayland 
is  a  volume  of  deep  instruction,  announcing  the  feelings  and  theolo 
gical  consistency,  we  might  say  fanaticism,  of,  we  hope,  but  a  few 
extraordinary  men,  now  appearing  in  our  land ;  men,  we  doubt  not, 
conscientious  in  their  opinion  that  God  designs  the  government  of 
the  world  to  be  in  strict  conformity  with  human  reason,  and  who 
cannot,  therefore,  pray  in  the  spirit  of  the  Son :  "  Father,  if  thou 
be  willing,  remove  this  cup  from  me :  nevertheless,  not  my  will,  but 
thine,  be  done."  Luke  xxii.  42.  "  If  any  man  have  not  the  spirit 
of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his."  Rom.  viii.  9. 

In  the  book  before  us,  the  author  falls  into  one  error,  common  to 
every  writer  on  his  side  of  the  question  :  That  slavery  is  the  cause 
of  the  degradation  of  the  Africans  and  the  slaves  generally.  We 
maintain  that  the  converse  is  the  true  state  of  the  case.  Another 
error  is  the  substitution  of  what  may  be  abuses  of  slavery  for 
the  institution  itself.  This  author,  like  most  of  the  abolition 
writers  of  whom  we  have  any  knowledge,  evinces  an  inability  to 
enter  into  an  impartial  consideration  of  the  subject,  from  his  deep 
and  overshadowing  prejudices  against  it.  Indeed,  the  whole  work, 
from  page  to  page,  carries  proof  of  a  previous  determination  to 
condemn,  not  less  obvious  than  in  the  instance  of  the  judge  who, 
in  summing  up  a  case,  said — "  It  is  true,  in  this  case,  the  accused 
has  proved  himself  innocent ;  but,  since  a  guilty  man  might  prove 
himself  so,  and  since  I  myself  have  always  been  of  the  opinion 
that  he  was  guilty,  it  will  be  the  safest  to  condemn." 

The  style  of  the  work  before  us  is  always  diffuse  and  declama 
tory,  sometimes  elevated,  but  often  cumbrous ;  still  his  language 
bears  the  impress  of  classical  learning  and  a  cultivated  mind ;  but 
there  is  in  the  work  a  want  of  conciseness  ;  it  abounds  in  contra 
dictory  positions  and  a  frequent  inconclusiveness  of  deduction, 
which  make  it  obnoxious  to  a  charge  of  carelessness.  But  may 


176  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

we  not  account  for  these  defects  by  the  urgent  solicitude  of  his 
readers  ? 

The  morbid  appetite  of  the  Northern  abolitionists  was  probably 
hungry  for  the  work.  Having  no  wish  to  oppose  his  pecuniary 
views,  we  refrain  from  further  extracts,  lest  we  should  infringe  his 
copyright.  Nor  did  we  at  all  contemplate  a  classical  review  of 
the  work.  The  book  contains  about  400  pages.  If  it  could  be 
condensed,  like  a  pot  of  new-brewed  and  foaming,  into  potable 
beer,  to  a  fourth  of  that  size,  it  might  well  claim  such  attention ; 
and  from  the  specimens  of  ability  displayed,  if  it  were  proved  that 
the  doctor  has  suffered  his  zeal  to  run  ahead  of  the  truth  in  regard 
to  his  race,  we  should  judge  him  fully  competent  to  the  task  of 
such  improvement. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


LESSON  I. 

"  TJie    Works  of  William  Ellery  Channing,  D.  D.,  in  six  volumes.     Tenth 
Edition.    Boston,  1849. 

THESE  volumes  include  essays,  sermons,  and  lectures  on  various 
subjects.  The  style  is  easy,  flowing,  and  persuasive  ;  the  language 
is  generally  clear,  often  elevated,  sometimes  sublime.  Few  can 
read  the  book  and  not  feel  the  evidence,  whatever  may  be  the  error 
of  his  doctrine,  that  the  author  added  to  his  literary  eminence  a 
purity  of  intention.  Such  a  work  must  always  make  a  deep  impres 
sion  on  the  reader.  It  is  this  fact  that  prompts  the  present  essay. 
It  may  be  said  of  Channing  what  Channing  said  of  Fenelon  : 

"  He  needs  to  be  read  with  caution,  as  do  all  who  write  from 
their  own  deeply  excited  minds.  He  needs  to  be  received  with 
deductions  and  explanations.  *  *  *  We  fear  that  the  very 
excellencies  of  Fenelon  may  shield  his  errors.  Admiration  pre 
pares  the  mind  for  belief ;  and  the  moral  and  religious  sensibility 
of  the  reader  may  lay  him  open  to  impressions  which,  while  they 
leave  his  purity  unstained,  may  engender  causeless  solicitude." 
Vol.  i.  p.  185. 

Dr.  Channing's  sympathies  for  every  appearance  of  human  suffer 
ing,  for  every  grade  of  human  imperfection,  gave  a  peculiar  phasis, 
perhaps  most  amiable  to  his  intellect,  religion,  and  writings.  He 
sought  perfection  for  himself — he  was  ardent  to  behold  it  universal. 
Heaven  must  for  ever  be  the  home  of  such  a  spirit.  But  the 
scenes  of  earth  gave  agitation  and  grief.  Limited,  in  his  earthly 
associations,  to  the  habits  of  the  North,  the  very  purity  of  his 
heart  led  him  to  attack  what  he  deemed  the  most  wicked  sin  of  the 

South.     His  politics  were  formed  upon  the  model  of  his  mind 

12 


178  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


Religion  spread  before  him  her  golden  wing,  and  science  aided  in 
the  elevation  of  his  view. 

But,  0  thou  Being,  God  Eternal !  why  not  this  earth  made 
heaven  ?  Why  thy  most  perfect  work  imperfection  ?  Why  thy 
child,  clothed  with  holiness  or  shod  with  the  gospel,  run  truant  to 
thy  law,  thy  providence  and  government  ? 

But,  lo,  we  are  not  of  thy  council.  We  were  not  called  when 
the  foundations  of  eternity  were  laid.  We  are,  truly,  all  very 
small  beings.  Our  virtues,  even  purity,  may  lead  in  error.  May 
not  our  best  intentions  lead  down  to  wo  ? 

"It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  serious  thought,  and  full  of  solemn 
instruction,  that  many  of  the  worst  errors  have  grown  out  of  the 
religious  tendencies  of  the  mind.  So  necessary  is  it  to  keep  watch 
over  our  whole  nature,  to  subject  the  highest  sentiments  to  the 
calm,  conscientious  reason.  Men,  starting  from  the  idea  of  God, 
have  been  so  dazzled  by  it,  as  to  forget  or  misinterpret  the  uni 
verse."  Charming,  vol.  i.  p.  14. 


LESSON  II. 

VOLUME  ii.  page  14,  Dr.  Channing  says — : 

"  1.  I  shall  show  that  man  cannot  be  justly  held  and  used  as 
property. 

"  2.  I  shall  show  that  man  has  sacred  rights,  the  gifts  of  God, 
and  inseparable  from  human  nature,  of  which  slavery  is  the 
infraction. 

"  8.  I  shall  offer  some  explanations  to  prevent  misapplication  of 
these  principles. 

"  4.  I  shall  unfold  the  evils  of  slavery. 

"  5.  I  shall  consider  the  argument  which  the  Scriptures  are 
thought  to  furnish  in  favour  of  slavery. 

"  6.  I  shall  offer  some  remarks  on  the  means  of  removing  it. 

"7.  I  shall  offer  some  remarks  on  abolitionism. 

"  8.  I  shall  conclude  with  a  few  reflections  on  the  duties  belong 
ing  to  the  times." 

In  support  of  the  first  proposition,  to  wit,  "  I  will  show  that 
man  cannot  be  justly  held  and  used  as  property,"  the  doctor  has 
advanced  seven  arguments.  He  says,  page  18 — "  It  is  plain,  that, 
if  one  man  may  be  held  as  property,  then  every  other  man  may  be 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  179 

so  held."  *  *  *  "  Now  let  every  reader  ask  himself  this  plain 
question :  Could  I,  can  I,  be  rightfully  seized,  and  made  an  article  of 
property,"  &c.  Page  19  :  "  And  if  this  impression  be  delusion,  on 
what  single  moral  conviction  can  we  rely  ?  *  *  *  The  con 
sciousness  of  indestructible  rights  is  a  part  of  our  moral  being.  The 
i;onsciousness  of  our  humanity  involves  the  persuasion  that  we 
•  •annot  be  owned  as  a  tree  or  brute.  As  men,  we  cannot  justly 
be  made  slaves.  Then  no  man  can  be  rightfully  enslaved." 

The  first  idea  we  find,  touching  property,  is  in  Gf-en.  i.  26  : 
"  Alid  let  them  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over 
the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  the  cattle,  and  over  all  the  earth, 
and  over  every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth." 
Verse  28th:  "And  God  blessed  them,  and  God  said  unto  them, 
Be  fruitful,  and  multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth  and  subdue  it ; 
and  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of 
the  air,  and  over  every  living  thing  that  moveth  upon  the  earth." 

In  Lev.  xxv.  44 :  "  Both  thy  bond-men  and  bond-maids  which 
thou  shalt  have  shall  be  of  the  heathen,  that  are  round  about  you : 
of  them  shall  ye  buy  bond-men  and  bond-maids."  Verse  45: 
u  Moreover  of  the  children  of  the  strangers  that  do  sojourn  among 
you,  of  them  shall  ye  buy,  and  of  their  families  that  are  with  you 
which  they  beget  in  your  land,  and  they  shall  be  your  possession." 
Verse  46 :  "  And  ye  shall  take  them  as  an  inheritance  for  your 
children  after  you,  to  inherit  them  for  a  possession,  they  shall  be 
your  bondmen  for  ever." 

And  if  we  look  at  the  first  verse  of  this  chapter,  that  the  fore 
going  was  announced  by  God  himself  to  Moses  from  Sinai;  and 
from  which  it  would  seem  that  God  and  Dr.  Channing  were  of 
quite  a  different  opinion  on  this  subject. 

We  know  not  what  notion  Dr.  Channing  may  have  entertained 
of  "  man's  indestructible  rights."  But  let  us  ask,  what  rights  has 
he  that  may  not  be  destroyed  ?  The  right  to  breath  ?  Suppose, 
by  his  own  wantonness,  carelessness,  or  wickedness,  he  is  sub 
merged  in  water,  what  becomes  of  his  right  to  breathe,  since  he  can 
no  longer  exercise  it  ?  Can  you  name  any  right  that,  under  the 
providence  of  God,  may  not  be  destroyed  ?  Freemen  have  rights, 
but  subject  to  alteration,  and  even  extinction ;  slaves  have  rights, 
but  subject  to  the  same  changes.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  an 
t;  indestructible  right"  appertaining  to  any  existence,  save  to  the 
Great  Jehovah  !  He  must  be  an  immortal  God  who  can  possess  an 
indestructible  right.*  We  use  the  word  "right"  in  Dr.  Channing's 


180  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


sense — just  claim,  legal  title,  ownership,  the  legal  power  of  exclu 
sive  possession.  You  ask,  has  not  man  an  indestructible  right 
to  worship  God  ?  We  answer,  no  !  Man  has  no  such  right  to  wor 
ship  God ;  such  right  would  make  him  a  partner.  The  worship 
of  God  is  a  duty  which  man  owes;  the  forbearance  of  which  is 
forbidden  by  the  moral  law,  by  justice  and  propriety.  Nothing 
can  be  forbidden  or  ordered  touching  an  indestructible  right ;  for 
such  command,  if  to  be  obeyed,  changes  the  quality  of  the  right ; 
or  rather  shows  that  it  was  not  indestructible. 

Such  arguments  may  seem  to  give  great  aid  and  beauty  to  a 
mere  rhetorical  climax,  but,  before  the  lens  of  analyzation,  evapo 
rates  into  enthusiastic  declamation, — which,  in  the  present  case, 
seems  to  be  addressed  to  the  sympathies,  prejudices,  and  impulses 
of  the  human  heart. 

In  his  writings  on  slavery,  in  fact  through  all  his  works,  we  find 
a  fundamental  error,  most  fatal  to  truth.  He  makes  the  conscience 
the  great  cynosura  of  all  that  is  right  in  morals,  and  of  all  tha.t 
is  true  in  religion. 

Hence,  in  the  passage  before  us, — "  The  consciousness  of  inde 
structible  rights  is  a  part  of  our  moral  being," — the  consciousness 
of  such  rights  is  his  proof  that  we  possess  them ;  therefore,  "the 
consciousness  of  our  humanity  involves  the  persuasion  (proof)  that 
we  cannot  be  owned;"  and,  therefore,  "as  men  (being  men)  we 
cannot  justly  be  made  slaves."  So,  page  25:  "Another  argument 
against  the  right  of  property  in  man,  may  be  drawn  from  a  very 
obvious  principle  of  moral  science,  the  conscience."  Page  33. 
"  His  conscience,  in  revealing  the  moral  law,  does  not  reveal  a  law 
for  himself  only,  but  speaks  as  a  universal  legislator.  He  has  an 
intuitive  conviction  that  the  obligations  of  this  divine  code  press 
on  others  as  truly  as  on  himself.  *  *  *  There  is  no  deeper 
principle  in  human  nature  than  the  consciousness  of  rights." 

Vol.  iii.  page  18  :  "  By  this  I  mean  that  a  Christian  minister 
should  beware  of  offering  interpretations  of  Scripture  which  are 
repugnant  to  any  clear  discoveries  of  reason,  or  dictates  of  con 
science." 

Page  93  :  "We  believe  that  all  virtue  has  its  foundation  in  the 
moral  nature  of  man ;  that  is,  conscience,  or  his  sense  of 
duty." 

Page  164 :  "  One  of  the  great  excellencies  of  Christianity  is 
that  it  does  not  deal  in  minute  regulations  ;  but,  that,  having  given 
broad  views  of  duty,"  &c.,  *  *  *  "it. leaves  us  to  apply 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

these  rules,  and  express  their  spirit,  according  to  the  promptings 
of  the  divine  monitor  within  us" — the  conscience. 

Vol.  vi.  page  308  :  "  We  have  no  higher  law  than  our  convic 
tion  of  duty." 

u  Conscience  is  the  supreme  power  within  us.  Its  essence,  its 
grand  characteristic,  is  sovereignty.  It  speaks  with  divine  au 
thority.  Its  office  is  to  command,  to  rebuke,  to  reward ;  and  hap 
piness  and  honour  depend  on  the  reverence  with  which  we  listen 
to  it."  Vol.  iii.  pp.  335,  336. 

Such  passages  plainly  expose  the  view  of  what  Dr.  Channing 
calls  conscience :  in  answer  to  which  we  say,  the  conscience  may 
be  a  poor  guide  to  truth.  The  African  savage  feels  a  clear  con 
science  when  he  kills  and  eats  his  captive.  The  Hindoo  mother 
is  governed  by  her  conscience  when  she  plunges  her  new-born  in 
fant  beneath  the  flood,  a  sacrifice  to  her  gods.  The  idolaters  of 
Palestine  were  subdued  by  conscience  when  they  thrust  their  suck 
ling  infants  into  the  flames  to  appease  Moloch  ;  yet  God  did  not 
think  it  was  right,  and  forbade  them  to  do  so. 

The  truth  is,  the  conscience  is  merely  that  part  of  the  judg 
ment  which  takes  notice  of  what  it  deems  right  or  wrong ;  con 
sequently,  is  as  prone  to  be  in  error  as  our  judgment  about  any 
other  matter* 

For  the  accuracy  of  this  definition,  we  refer  to  all  the  standard 
writers  on  logic,  and  those  on  the  human  understanding,  treating 
on  the  subject.  And  in  fact,  Dr.  Channing  is  forced  to  recede 
from  his  position  when  he  finds  that  Abraham,  Philemon,  and  some 
good  men  even  of  the  present  day,  were  slave-owners ;  and  in 
vol.  vi.  page  55,  he  says — "  It  is  a  solemn  truth,  not  yet  under 
stood  as  it  should  be,  that  the  worst  institutions  may  be  sustained, 
the  worst  deeds  performed,  the  most  merciless  cruelties  inflicted 
by  the  conscientious  and  the  good." 

And  again,  page  5T :  "  The  great  truth  is  now  insisted  on,  that 
evil  is  evil,  no  matter  at  whose  door  it  lies  ;  and  that  men  acting 
from  conscience  and  religion  may  do  nefarious  deeds,  needs  to  be 
better  understood." 

Would  it  not  have  been  more  frank  for  Dr.  Channing  to  have 
said,  that  the  conscience  would  be  an  unerring  guide  so  long  as 
it  agreed  with  his,  but  when  it  did  not,  why,  then  he  would  inquire 
into  the  matter  ? 

It  is  to  be  lamented  that,  among  the  unlearned  at  the  present 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

day,  a  confused  idea  of  something  tantamount  to  the  conscience 
being  a  divine  monitor  within  us  has  taken  a  deep  root  among  the 
minds  of  men;  having  grown  out  of  the  fact  that  such  was  the 
doctrine  of  some  of  the  fanatical  teachers  of  former  days. 

If  we  shall  be  permitted  to  speak  of  property,  in  reference  to 
our  and  its  relation  to  the  Divine  Being,  then  we  cannot  strictly 
say  that  man  can  own  property.  Jehovah  stands  in  no  need. 
Behold  the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills  are  his ;  all  is  the  work  of 
his  hand ;  all,  all  is  his  property  alone  !  At  most,  God  has  only 
intrusted  the  possession,  the  administration  of  the  subjects  of  his 
creation,  to  man  for  the  time  being, — to  multiply,  to  replenish  and 
subdue.  It  is  only  in  reference  to  our  relation  to  one  another  that 
we  can  advance  the  idea  of  property.  Man  was  commanded  to 
have  dominion  over  the  whole  earth,  to  replenish  and  subdue,  in 
proportion  to  the  talent  bestowed  on  him  for  that  purpose.  This 
command  presupposes  such  a  state  of  things  as  we  find,  of  ad 
vancement,  progression,  and  improvement.  But  in  the  course  of 
the  Divine  administration,  God  has  seen  fit  to  bestow  on  one  man 
ten  talents,  and  on  another  but  one  ;  and  who  shall  stand  upon  the 
throne  of  the  Almighty,  and  decide  that  he  of  the  ten  talents  shall 
have  no  relation  with  the  progression  of  him  of  but  one  talent : 

"  Take  therefore  the  talent  from  him,  and  give  it  unto  him  of 
ten  talents.  For  unto  every  one  that  hath  shall  be  given,  and  ho 
shall  have  abundance:  but  from  him  that  hath  not  shall  be  taken 
away  even  that  which  he  hath."  Matt.  xxv.  28,  29 ;  see  also  Luke 
xvii.  24-26. 

And  what,  in  the  course  of  Divine  providence,  is  to  become  of 
him  who  buried  his  talent  in  the  earth,  and  from  whom  it  was  taken 
away  ?  "  Blessed  is  that  servant  whom  his  Lord  when  he  cometh 
shall  find  so  doing.  Of  a  truth  I  say  unto  you,  that  he  will  make 
him  ruler  over  all  that  he  hath."  Luke  xii.  43,  44.  "Jesus  an 
swered  them,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  whoever  committeth  sin  is  the 
servant  (5oi)io$5  doulos,  slave)  of  sin."  John  viii.  34.  "  Behold  for 
your  iniquities  have  ye  sold  yourselves."  Isa.  1.  1.  "  Cursed  be 
Canaan;  a  servant  of  servants  shall  he  be  unto  his  brethren." 
Gen.  ix.  25.  DHDJJ.  "DJ£  ebed,  ebedim,  a  most  abject  slave 
shall  he  be ! 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  183 


LESSON  III. 

THE  second  argument  in  support  of  his  first  proposition  is,  "  A 
man  cannot  be  seized  and  held  as  property,  because  he  has  rights  ;" 
to  enforce  which,  he  says — "  Now,  I  say,  a  being  having  rights 
cannot  justly  be  made  property ;  for  this  claim  over  him  virtually 
annuls  all  his  rights."  "We  see  no  force  of  argument  in  this  posi 
tion.  It  is  also  true  that  all  domestic  animals,  held  as  property, 
have  rights.  "  The  ox  knoweth  his  owner,  and  the  ass  his  master's 
crib."  They  all  have  "the  right  of  petition;"  and  ask,  in  their 
way,  for  food  :  are  they  the  less  property  ? 

But  his  third  argument  in  support  of  his  first  proposition  is, 
that  man  cannot  justly  be  held  as  property,  on  the  account  of  the 
"essential  equality  of  man."  If  to  be  born,  to  eat,  to  drink,  and 
die  alike,  constitutes  an  essential  equality  among  men,  then  be  it 
so  !  What !  the  African  savage,  born  even  a  slave  amid  his  native 
wilds,  who  entertains  no  vestige  of  an  idea  of  God,  of  a  future 
state  of  existence,  of  moral  accountability;  who  has  no  wish  be 
yond  the  gratification  of  his  own  animal  desire  ;  whose  parentage, 
for  ages  past,  has  been  of  the  same  order ;  and  whose  descendants 
are  found  to  require  generations  of  constant  training  before  they 
display  any  permanent  moral  and  intellectual  advancement ;  what, 
such  a  one  essentially  equal  to  such  a  man  as  Dr.  Channing  ? 

The  truth  is,  such  a  man  is  more  essentially  equal  with  the  brute 
creation.  We  shall  consider  the  subject  of  the  equality  in  another 
part  of  our  study,  to  which  we  refer.  We,  therefore,  only  remark, 
that  the  doctrine  is  a  chimera. 

His  fourth  argument  in  support  of  the  proposition  is,  "  That 
man  cannot  justly  be  held  as  property,  because  property  is  an  ex 
clusive  right.  "Now,"  he  says,  "if  there  be  property  in  any 
tiling,  it  is  that  of  a  man  in  his  own  person,  mind,  and  strength." 
"Property,"  he  repeats,  "is  an  exclusive  right." 

If  a  man  has  an  exclusive  right  to  property,  he  can  alienate  it ; 
he  may  sell,  give,  and  bequeath  it  to  others.  If  a  man  is  the  pro 
perty  of  himself,  suppose  he  shall  choose  to  sell  himself  to  another, 
and  deliver  himself  in  full  possession  to  the  purchaser,  as  he  had 
before  been  in  the  full  possession  of  himself — whose  property  will 


184  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


he  be  then  ?  See  a  case  in  point  in  Deut.  xv.  12-17 ;  see  also 
Exod.  xxi.  1-7. 

His  fifth  argument  is  that,  "  if  a  human  being  cannot  without 
infinite  injustice  be  seized  as  property,  then  he  cannot,  without 
equal  wrong,  be  held  and  used  as  such."  If  a  human  being  shall 
be  found  a  nuisance  to  himself  and  others  in  a  state  of  freedom, 
then  there  will  be  no  injustice  in  his  being  subjugated,  by  law,  to 
such  control  as  his  qualities  prove  him  to  require  in  reference  to 
the  general  good ;  even  if  the  subject  shall  not  choose  such  control 
as  a  personal  benefit  to  himself. 

The  sixth  argument  is,  that  a  human  being  cannot  be  held  as 
property,  because,  if  so  held,  "  the  latter  is  under  obligation  to 
give  himself  up  as  a  chattel  to  the  former.  "  Now,"  he  says,  "  do  we 
not  instantly  feel,  can  we  help  feeling,  that  this  is  false?"  And 
that  "the  absence  of  obligation  proves  the  want  of  the  right." 

We  suppose  all  acknowledge  God  as  the  author  of  the  moral 
law.  The  moral  law  forcibly  inculcates  submission  to  the  civil  or 
political  law,  even  independent  of  any  promise  to  do  so.  Now,  no 
one  can  have  a  right  to  act  in  contradiction  to  law.  The  absence 
of  this  right,  then,  proves  the  existence  of  the  obligation. 

For  his  seventh  argument,  he  says — "  I  come  now  to  what  is,  to 
my  mind,  the  great  argument  against  seizing  and  using  a  man  as 
property.  He  cannot  be  property  in  the  sight  of  God  and  jus 
tice,  because  he  is  a  rational,  moral,  immortal  being;  because 
created  in  God's  image,  and  therefore  in  the  highest  sense  his 
child ;  because  created  to  unfold  godlike  faculties,  and  to  govern 
himself  by  a  Divine  law,  written  on  his  heart,  and  republished  in 
God's  word." 

Dr.  Channing  adds  a  page  or  two  in  the  same  impulsive  strain, 
of  the  same  enthusiastic  character.  We  may  admire  his  style,  his 
language,  the  amiable  formation  of  his  mind,  but  we  see  nothing 
like  precision  or  logical  deduction  in  support  of  his  proposition. 
We  see  nothing  in  it  but  the  declamation  of  a  learned,  yet  an  over- 
ardent,  enthusiastic  mind.  His  whole  book  is  but  a  display  of  his 
mental  formation.  He  could  love  his  friends;  yea,  his  enemies. 
He  could  have  rewarded  virtue,  but  he  never  could  have  punished 
sin.  He  could  have  forgiven  the  greatest  outrage,  but  he  never 
could  have  yielded  a  delinquent  to  the  rigid  demands  of  justice.  He 
was  a  good  man,  but  he  never  could  have  been  an  unbending  judge. 

The  laws  of  God  have  been  made  for  the  government  and  bene 
fit  of  his  creatures.  God,  nor  his  law,  is,  like  man,  changeable. 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  185 

His  law,  as  expressed  or  manifested  towards  one  class  of  objects, 
is  also  expressed  and  manifested  towards  all  objects  similarly  situ 
ated.  The  law,  brought  into  action  by  an  act  of  Cain,  would 
also  have  been  brought  into  action  by  a  similar  act  of  Abel.  The 
law  condemnatory  of  the  shedding  of  blood  is  still  in  fearful 
existence  against  all  who  shall  have  brought  themselves  within  the 
category  of  Cain's  acts,  the  most  of  which  have  probably  not  been 
recorded. 

We  anticipate  from  another  portion  of  our  studies,  that  u  sin  is 
any  want  of  conformity  unto  the  law  of  God."  Sin  is  as  neces 
sarily  followed  by  ill  consequences  to  the  sinner  as  cause  is  by 
effect.  A  man  commits  a  private  murder ;  think  ye,  he  feels  no 
horrors  of  mind — no  regrets  ?  Is  the  watchfulness  he  finds  neces 
sary  to  keep  over  himself  for  fear  of  exposure,  through  the  whole 
of  life,  not  the  effect  of  the  act  ?  Is  not  his  whole  conduct,  his 
friendships  and  associations  with  men,  his  very  mental  peculiari 
ties,  his  estimate  of  others,  often  all  influenced  and  directed  in 
the  path  of  his  personal  safety,  the  avoidance  of  suspicion  ?  And 
is  all  this  no  punishment  ?  Probably,  to  have  been  put  to  death 
would  have  been  a  much  less  suffering  ;  and  who  can  tell  how  far 
this  long,  fearful,  and  systematic  working  of  his  mind  is  to  affect 
the  mental  peculiarities  of  his  offspring  ?  Shall  he,  who,  by  wanton 
thoughtlessness,  regardless  of  propriety,  the  moral  law,  and  the 
consequences  of  its  breach,  contracts  some  foul,  loathsome,  con 
suming  disease,  that  burns  into  the  bones,  and  becomes  a  part  of 
his  physical  constitution,  leave  no  trace  of  his  sin  on  his  descend 
ants?  Deteriorated,  feeble,  and  diseased,  they  shall  not  live  out 
half  their  days ! 

A  long-continued  course  of  sin,  confined  to  an  individual,  or 
extended  to  a  family  or  race  of  people,  deteriorates,  degenerates, 
and  destroys.  Such  deterioration,  continued  perhaps  from  untold 
time,  has  brought  some  of  the  races  of  men  to  what  we  now  find 

o 

them ;  and  the  same  causes,  in  similar  operation,  would  leave  the 
same  effect  on  any  other  race ;  and  Dr.  Channing's  "  child  of  God" 
ceases  to  be  so.  "Ye  are  of  your  father,  the  devil."  John  viii. 
44.  "  And  Dr.  Channing's  man,  created  to  unfold  godlike  facul 
ties,  and  to  govern  himself  by  a  Divine  law  written  on  his  heart," 
ceases  to  act  as  he  supposes:  "And  the  lusts  of  your  father  ye 
will  do :  he  was  a  murderer  from  the  beginning,  and  abode  not  in 
the  truth;  because  there  is  no  truth  in  him."  John  viii.  44.  And 
what  saith  the  Spirit  of  prophecy  to  these  degenerate  sons  of 


186  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

earth  ?  "  When  thou  criest,  let  thy  companions  deliver  thee  ;  but 
the  wind  shall  carry  them  away ;  vanity  shall  take  them  ;  but  he 
that  putteth  his  trust  in  me  shall  possess  the  land,  and  shall  in 
herit  my  holy  mountain."  Isa.  Ivii.  13. 

"  And  if  thou  shalt  say  in  thy  heart,  wherefore  came  these 
things  upon  me?  For  the  greatness  of  thine  iniquity  are  thy 
skirts  discovered,  and  thy  heels  made  bare.  Can  the  Ethiopian 
change  his  skin,  or  the  leopard  his  spots  ?  Then  may  ye  also  do 
good  that  are  accustomed  to  do  evil.  Therefore  will  I  scatter  them 
as  stubble  that  passeth  away  by  the  wind  of  the  wilderness.  This 
is  thy  lot,  the  portion  of  thy  measures  from  me,  saith  the  Lord : 
because  thou  hast  forgotten  me,  and  trusted  in  falsehood.  There 
fore,  will  I  discover  thy  skirts  upon  thy  face,  that  thy  shame  may 
appear."  Jer.  xiii.  22-26. 

"  And  I  will  sell  your  sons  and  your  daughters  into  the  hand  of 
the  children  of  Judah,  and  they  shall  sell  them  to  the  Sabeans,  to 
a  people  far  off:  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it."  Joel  iii.  8. 

And  what  saith  the  same  Spirit  to  those  of  opposite  character  ? 

"  The  sons  also  of  them  that  afflicted  thee  shall  come  bending  unto 
thee  ;  and  they  that  despised  thee  shall  bow  themselves  down  at 
the  soles  of  thy  "feet."  Isa.  Ix.  14. 

"  And  strangers  shall  stand  and  feed  your  flocks,  and  the  sons 
of  the  alien  shall  be  your  ploughmen  and  your  vine-dressers." 
Ibid.  Ixi.  5. 

"  They  (my  people)  shall  not  labour  in  vain,  nor  bring  forth 
trouble ;  they  are  the  seed  of  the  blessed  of  the  Lord,  and  their 
offspring  with  them.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  before  they  shall 
call,  I  will  answer;  and  while  they  are  yet  speaking,  I  will  hear." 
Ibid.  Ixv.  234. 

What  are  the  threatenings  announced  in  prospect  of  their  dete 
rioration  and  wickedness  ? 

"And  thou  (Judah)  even  thyself,  shalt  discontinue  from  thy 
heritage  that  I  gave  thee  ;  and  I  will  cause  thee  to  serve  (^"[TH?]/ 
be  a  slave  to)  thine  enemies  in  a  land  which  thou  knowest  not." 
Jer.  xvii.  4. , 

"Are  ye  not  as  the  children  of  the  Ethiopians  unto  me,  0  chil 
dren  of  Israel  ?  saith  the  Lord.  *  *  *  Behold  the  eyes  of  the 
Lord  God  are  upon  this  sinful  kingdom,  and  I  will  destroy  it  from 
off  the  face  of  the  earth  ;  saving  that  I  will  not  utterly  destroy  the 
house  of  Jacob,  saith  the  Lord."  Amos  ix.  7,  8. 

The  consequences  of  sin  are  degradation,  slavery,  and  death : 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  187 


.  "  A  righteous  man  hateth  lying  ;  but  a  wicked  man  is  loathsome 
andcometh  to  shame." 

"  He  that  troubleth  his  own  house  shall  inherit  the  wind ;  and  the 
fool  shall  be  servant  (l^y  ebed,  slave)  to  the  wise  of  heart." 

"As  righteousness  tendeth  to  life,  so  he  that  pursueth  evil,  pur- 
sueth  it  to  his  own  death."  Prov. 

Dr.  Channing  has  suffered  his  idea  of  property  to  bring  him 
great  mental  suffering  :  he  evidently  associates,  under  the  term 
property,  those  qualities  and  relations  only,  which  are  properly 
associated  in  an  inanimate  object  of  possession,  or  at  most  in  a 
brute  beast.  He  has,  no  doubt,  suffered  great  misery  from  the 
reflection  that  a  human  being  has  ever  been  reduced  to  such  a  con 
dition.  But  his  misery  has  all  been  produced  by  his  adherence  to 
his  own  peculiar  definition  of  the  word  property.  His  definition 
is  not  its  exact  meaning,  when  applied  to  a  slave.  Had  the  doctor 
attempted  an  argument  to  show  that  the  word  property  could  not 
consistently  be  applied  to  a  slave,  he  might,  perhaps,  have  im 
proved  our  language,  by  setting  up  a  more  definite  boundary  to  the 
meaning  of  this  term,  and  saved  himself  much  useless  labour. 

Mankind  apply  the  term  property  to  slaves :  they  have  always 
done  so ;  and  since  Dr.  Channing  has  not  given  us  an  essay  upon 
the  impropriety  of  this  use  of  the  word,  perhaps  the  accustomed 
usage  will  be  continued.  But  we  imagine  that  no  one  but  the  doctor 
and  his  disciples  will  contend  that  it  expresses  the  same  complex 
idea  when  applied  to  slaves,  which  is  expressed  by  it  when  applied 
to  inanimate  objects,  or  to  brute  beasts.  It  will  be  a  new  idea  to  the 
slaveholder  to  be  told  that  the  word  property,  as  applied  to  his 
slaves,  converts  them  at  once  into  brute  beasts,  no  longer  human 
beings ;  that  it  deprives  them  of  all  legal  protection  ;  and  that  he, 
the  master,  in  consequence  of  the  use  of  this  word,  stands  in  the 
same  relation  to  his  slave  that  he  does  to  his  horse ;  and  we  ap 
prehend  he  will  find  it  quite  as  difficult  to  comprehend  how  this 
metamorphosis  is  brought  about,  as  it  is  for  the  doctor  and  his 
disciples,  how  the  slave  is  property. 

We  may  say  a  man  has  property  in  his  wife,  his  children,  his 
hireling,  his  slave,  his  horse,  and  a  piece  of  timber, — by  which  we 
mean  that  he  has  the  right  to  use  them,  in  conformity  to  the  rela 
tions  existing  between  himself  and  these  several  objects.  Because 
his  horse  is  his  property,  who  ever  dreamed  that  he  had  therefore 
the  right  to  use  him  as  a  piece  of  timber  ? 


188  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 


No  man  has  a  right  to  use  any  item  of  property  in  a  different 
manner  than  his  relations  with  it  indicate  ;  or,  in  other  words,  as 
shall  be  in  conformity  with  the  laws  of  God.  Our  property  is  little 
else  than  the  right  of  possession  and  control,  under  the  guidance 
of  the  laws  by  which  we  are  in  possession  for  the  time  being* 

The  organization  of  society  is  the  result  of  the  conception  of  the 
general  good.  By  it  one  man,  under  a  certain  chain  of  circum 
stances,  inherits  a  throne ;  another,  a  farm  ;  one,  the  protection  of 
a  bondman,  or  whatever  may  accrue  to  these  conditions  from  other 
operating  causes ;  and  another,  nothing.  '  If  Dr.  Channing  and  his 
disciples  can  find  out  some  new  principles  by  which  to  organize 
society,  producing  different  and  better  results,  they  will  then  do 
what  has  not  been  done. 


LESSON  IV. 

THE  doctrine  that  slavery,  disease,  and  death  are  the  necessary 
effects  of  sin,  we  humbly  claim  to  perceive  spread  on  every  page 
of  the  holy  books.  This  doctrine  is  forcibly  illustrated  in  the 
warning  voice  of  Jehovah  to  the  Israelites.  They  were  empha 
tically  called  his  children — peculiar  people — his  chosen  ones.  He 
made  covenants  with  them  to  bless  them ;  yet  all  these  were 
founded  upon  their  adherence  to  the  Divine  law.  These  promises 
repealed  no  ordinance  of  Divine  necessity  in  their  behalf.  He  ex 
pressed,  revealed  the  law,  so  far  as  it  was  important  for  them  at 
the  time,  and  then  says,  Deut.  xxviii.  14-68  :— 

"  15.  But  it  shall  come  to  pass,  if  thou  wilt  not  hearken  unto 
the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  to  observe  to  do  all  his  command 
ments  and  his  statutes  which  I  command  thee  this  day,  that  all 
these  curses  shall  come  upon  thee  and  overtake  thee : 

"  16.*  Cursed  slialt  thou  be  in  the  city,  and  cursed  shalt  thou  be 
in  the  field. 

"  17.  Cursed  shall  be  thy  basket  and  thy  store. 

"  18.  Cursed  shall  be  the  fruit  of  thy  body,  and  the  fruit  of 
thy  land,  the  increase  of  thy  kine,  and  the  flocks  of  thy  sheep. 

"  19.  Cursed  shalt  thou  be  when  thou  comest  in,  and  cursed  shalt 
thou  be  when  thou  goest  out. 

"20.  The  Lord  shall  send  upon  thee  cursing,  vexation,  and  re 
buke,  in  all  that  thou  settest  thy  hand  unto  for  to  do,  until  thou  be 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


destroyed,  and  until  thou  perish  quickly :  because  of  the  wicked 
ness  of  thy  doings  whereby  thou  hast  forsaken  me. 

"  21.  The  Lord  shall  make  the  pestilence  cleave  unto  thee,  until 
he  have  consumed  thee  from  off  the  land,  whither  thou  goest  to 
possess  it. 

"•22.  The  Lord  shall  smite  thee  with  a  consumption,  and  with  a 
fever,  and  with  an  inflammation,  and  with  an  extreme  burning,  and 
with  the  sword,  and  with  blasting,  and  with  mildew  :  and  they  shall 
pursue  thee  until  thou  perish. 

"  23.  And  thy  heaven  that  is  oyer  thy  head  shall  be  brass,  and 
the  earth  that  is  under  thee  shall  be  iron. 

"  24.  The  Lord  shall  make  the  rain  of  thy  land  powder  and 
dust :  from  heaven  shall  it  come  down  upon  thee,  until  thou  be 
destroyed. 

"25.  The  Lord  shall  cause  thee  to  be  smitten  before  thine  ene 
mies  :  thou  shalt  go  out  one  way  against  them,  and  flee  seven  ways 
before  them ;  and  shalt  be  removed  into  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
earth. 

"  26.  And  thy  carcass  shall  be  meat  unto  all  fowls  of  the  air, 
and  unto  beasts  of  the  earth,  and  no  man  shall  fray  them  away. 

"  27.  The  Lord  will  smite  thee  with  the  botch  of  Egypt,  and 
with  the  emerods,  and  with  the  scab,  and  with  the  itch,  whereof 
thou  canst  not  be  healed. 

"  28.  The  Lord  shall  smite  thee  with  madness,  and  blindness, 
and  astonishment  of  heart : 

"  29.  And  thou  shalt  grope  at  noonday,  as  the  blind  gropeth  in 
darkness,  and  thou  shalt  not  prosper  in  thy  ways ;  and  thou  shalt 
be  only  oppressed  and  spoiled  evermore,  and  no  man  shall  save 
thee. 

"  30.  Thou  shalt  betroth  a  wife,  and  another  man  shall  lie  with 
her :  thou  shalt  build  a  house,  and  thou  shalt  not  dwell  therein : 
thou  shalt  plant  a  vineyard,  and  shalt  not  gather  the  grapes 
thereof. 

"  31.  Thine  ox  shall  be  slain  before  thine  eyes,  and  thou  shalt 
not  eat  thereof:  thy  ass  shall  be  violently  taken  away  from  before 
thy  face,  and  shall  not  be  restored  to  thee  :  thy  sheep  shall  be 
given  unto  thine  enemies,  and  thou  shalt  have  none  to  rescue 
them. 

"  32.  Thy  sons  and  thy  daughters  shall  be  given  unto  another 
people,  and  thy  eyes  shall  look,  and  fail  with  longing  for  them  all 
the  day  long :  and  there  shall  be  no  might  in  thy  hand. 


190  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


"  33.  The  fruit  of  thy  land  and  all  thy  labours  shall  a  nation 
which  thou  knowest  not  eat  up  :  and  thou  shalt  be  only  oppressed 
and  crushed  always : 

"  34.  So  that  thou  shalt  be  mad  for  the  sight  of  thy  eyes  which 
thou  shalt  see. 

"  35.  The  Lord  shall  smite  thee  in  the  knees,  and  in  the  legs, 
with  a  sore  botch  that  cannot  be  healed,  from  the  sole  of  thy  foot 
unto  the  top  of  thy  head. 

"  36.  The  Lord  shall  bring  thee,  and  thy  king  which  thou  shalt 
set  over  thee,  unto  a  nation  which  neither  thou  nor  thy  fathers 
have  known,  and  there  shalt  thou  serve  (HI DJH  ve  abadta,  and 
shall  slave  yourselves  to)  other  gods,  wood  and  stone  : 

"  37.  And  thou  shalt  become  an  astonishment,  a  proverb,  and 
a  by-word,  among  all  nations  whither  the  Lord  shall  lead  thee. 

"  38.  Thou  shalt  carry  much  seed  out  unto  the  field,  and  shalt 
gather  but  little  in  :  for  the  locust  shall  consume  it. 

"  39.  Thou  shalt  plant  vineyards  and  dress  them,  but  shalt 
neither  drink  of  the  wine,  nor  gather  the  grapes :  for  the  worms 
shall  eat  them. 

"  40.  Thou  shalt  have  olive-trees  throughout,  but  thou  shalt  not 
anoint  thyself  with  the  oil :  for  thine  olive  shall  cast  his  fruit. 

"  41.  Thou  shalt  beget  sons  and  daughters,  but  thou  shalt  not 
enjoy  them,  for  they  shall  go  into  captivity." 

(Into  captivity  is  translated  from  'DgO  bashshebi;  the  prefix  pre 
position  in,  into,  &c.  here  makes  bash.  The  root  is  shebi.  The 
translation  is  correct,  but  the  idea  extends  to  such  a  possession  of 
the  captive  as  includes  the  idea  of  a  right  of  property.  The  same 
word  is  used  when  dumb  beasts  are  taken  as  spoil  in  war ;  thus,  Amos 
iv.  10,  DJ^DID  '3^'  shebi  suseJcem,  I  have  taken  your  horses,  L  e. 
I  have  captured  your  horses, — the  right  of  property  in  the  horses 
is  changed.  The  idea  in  the  text  is,  they  shall  go  into  slavery.} 

"42.  All  thy  trees  and  fruit  of  thy  land  shall  the  locust  con 
sume. 

"  43.  The  strange-r  that  is  within  thee  shall  get  up  above  thee 
very  high ;  and  thou  shalt  come  down  very  low. 

"44.  He  shall  lend  to  thee,  and  thou  shalt  not  lend  to  him :  he 
shall  be  the  head,  and  thou  shalt  be  the  tail. 

"  45.  Moreover,  all  these  curses  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  shall 
pursue  thee,  and  overtake  thee,  till  thou  be  destroyed :  because 
thou  hearkenedst  not  unto  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  to  keep 
his  commandments  and  his  statutes  which  he  commanded  thee. 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  19] 

"46.  And  they  shall  be  upon  thee  for  a  sign,  and  fora  wonder, 
and  upon  thy  seed  for  ever." 

(For  a  sign  J11N  oth,  a  mark,  sign,  $c.  It  may  be  noted  that 
this  word  is  used  in  G-en.  iv.  15  :  "  And  the  Lord  set  a  mark  upon 
Cain,"  niN  oth,  mark,  sign,  $c.) 

"47.  Because  thou  servedst  not  the  Lord  thy  God  with  joy  fulness 
and  with  gladness  of  heart  for  the  abundance  of  all  things. 

"48.  Therefore  shalt  thou  serve  (rHDV  be  a  slave  to]  thine  ene- 

v  T      :  -  "r  / 

mies  which  the  Lord  shall  send  against  thee,  in  hunger,  and  in 
thirst,  and  in  nakedness,  and  in  want  of  all  things :  and  he  shall 
put  a  yoke  of  iron  upon  thy  neck,  until  he  have  destroyed  thee. 

"49.  The  Lord  shall  bring  a  nation  against  thee  from  far,  from 
the  end  of  the  earth,  as  swift  as  the  eagle  flieth,  a  nation  whose 
tongue  thou  shalt  not  understand ; 

"  50.  A  nation  of  fierce  countenance,  which  shall  not  regard  the 
person  of  the  old,  ndr  show  favour  to  the  young : 

"51.  And  he  shall  eat  the  fruit  of  thy  cattle,  and  the  fruit  of 
thy  land,  until  thou  be  destroyed :  which  also  shall  not  leave  thee 
either  corn,  wine,  or  oil,  or  the  increase  of  thy  kine,  or  flocks 
of  thy  sheep,  until  he  have  destroyed  thee. 

"52.  And  he  shall  besiege  thee  in  all  thy  gates,  until  thy  high 
and  fenced  walls  come  down,  wherein  thou  trustedst,  throughout  all 
thy  land  :  and  he  shall  besiege  thee  in  all  thy  gates  throughout  all 
thy  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  given  thee. 

"53.  And  thou  shalt  eat  the  fruit  of  thine  own  body,  the  flesh 
of  thy  sons  and  of  thy  daughters  which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath 
given  thee,  in  the  siege  and  in  the  straitness  wherewith  thine  ene 
mies  shall  distress  thee  : 

"54.  So  that  the  man  that  is  tender  among  you,  and  very  deli 
cate,  his  eye  shall  be  evil  toward  his  brother,  and  toward  the 
wife  of  his  bosom,  and  toward  the  remnant  of  his  children  which 
he  shall  leave. 

"55.  So  that  he  will  not  give  to  any  of  them  of  the  flesh  of  his 
children  whom  he  shall  eat :  because  he  hath  nothing  left  him  in 
the  siege,  and  in  the  straitness  wherewith  thine  enemies  shall  dis 
tress  thee  in  all  thy  gates. 

"56.  The  tender  and  delicate  woman  among  you,  which  would 
not  adventure  to  set  the  sole  of  her  foot  upon  the  ground  for  deli- 
cateness  and  tenderness,  her  eye  shall  be  evil  toward  the  hus 
band  of  her  bosom,  and  toward  her  son,  and  toward  her  daughter, 

"57.  And  toward  her  young  one  that  cometh  out  from  between 


192  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

her  feet,. and  toward  her  children  which  she  shall  bear:  for  she 
shall  eat  them  for  want  of  all  tilings  secretly  in  the  siege  and 
straitness  wherewith  thine  enemy  shall  distress  thee  in  thy  gates. 

"  58.  If  thou  wilt  not  observe  to  do  all  the  words  of  this  law  that 
are  written  in  this  book,  that  thou  mayest  fear  this  glorious  and 
fearful  name  THE  LORD  THY  GOD. 

"59.  Then  the  Lord  will  make  thy  plagues  wonderful,  and  the 
plagues  of  thy  seed,  even  great  plagues,  and  of  long  continuance, 
and  sore  sicknesses  and  of  long  continuance. 

"  60.  Moreover,  he  will  bring  upon  thee  all  the  diseases  of  Egypt, 
which  thou  wast  afraid  of,  and  they  shall  cleave  unto  thee. 

"  61.  Also  every  sickness,  and  every  plague  which  is  not  written 
in  the  book  of  this  law,  them  will  the  Lord  bring  upon  thee,  until 
thou  be  destroyed. 

"  62.  And  ye  shall  be  left  few  in  number,  whereas  ye  were  as  the 
stars  of  heaven  for  multitude ;  because  thou  wouldest  not  obey  the 
voice  of  the  Lord  thy  God. 

"  63.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  as  the  Lord  rejoiced  over 
you  to  do  you  good,  and  to  multiply  you  ;  so  the  Lord  will  rejoice 
over  you  to  destroy  you  and  to  bring  you  to  nought ;  and  ye  shall 
be  plucked  from  off  the  land  whither  thou  goest  to  possess  it. 

"  64.  And  the  Lord  shall  scatter  thee  among  all  people  from  the 
one  end  of  the  earth  even  to  the  other,  and  thou  shalt  serve  (JTHD^? 
be  slave  to)  other  gods  which  neither  thou  nor  thy  fathers  have 
known,  even  wood  and  stone. 

"  65.  And  among  these  nations  shalt  thou  find  no  ease,  neither 
shall  the  sole  of  thy  foot  have  rest :  but  the  Lord  shall  give  thee 
there  a  trembling  heart,  and  failing  of  eyes,  and  sorrow  of  mind. 

"  66.  And  thy  life  shall  hang  in  doubt  before  thee ;  and  thou 
shalt  fear  day  and  night,  and  shalt  have  none  assurance  of  thy 
life: 

"67.  In  the  morning  thou  shalt  say,  Would  God  it  were  even ! 
and  at  even  shalt  thou  say,  Would  God  it  were  morning !  for  the 
fear  of  thy  heart  wherewith  thou  shalt  fear,  and  for  the  sight  of 
thine  eyes  which  thou  shalt  see. 

"  68.  And  the  Lord  shall  bring  thee  into  Egypt  again  with 
ships,  by  the  way  whereof  I  spake  unto  thee.  Thou  shalt  see  it 
no  more  again :  and  there  ye  shall  be  sold  unto  your  enemies  for 
bond-men  and  bond-women,  and  no  man  shall  buy  you." 

Ye  shall  be  sold,  i.  e.  be  exposed  to  sale,  or  expose  yourselves 
to  sale,  as  the  word  DrnDEnn  hith  maccartem  mav  be  rendered; 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  193 

they  were  vagrants,  and  wished  to  become  slaves  that  they  might 
be  provided  with  the  necessaries  of  life."   Clarke  s  Commentary. 

The    markets   were    overstocked   with    them,    says   Josephus : 
*     "  They  were  sold  with  their  wives  and  children  at  the 
lowest  price,  there  being  many  to  be  sold,  and  few  purchasers." 

Hegesippus  also  says — "  There  were  many  captives  offered  for 
sale,  but  few  buyers,  because  the  Romans  disdained  to  take  the 
Jews  for  slaves,  and  there  were  not  Jews  remaining  to  redeem 
their  countrymen." 

"  When  Jerusalem  was  taken  by  Titus,  of  the  captives  who  were 
sent  into  Egypt,  those  under  seventeen  were  sold ;  but  so  little 
care  was  taken  of  them,  that  11,000  of  them  perished  for  want." 
Bishop  Newton. 

St.  Jerome  says — "After  their  last  overthrow  by  Adrian,  many 
thousands  of  them  were  sold,  and  those  who  could  not  be  sold  were 
transported  into  Egypt,  and  perished  by  shipwreck  and  famine,  or 
were  massacred  by  the  inhabitants." 

A  similar  condition  happened  to  the  Jews  in  Spain,  when,  under 
the  reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  they  were  driven  out  of  that 
kingdom,  concerning  which,  Abarbinel,  a  Jewish  writer  says— 
"  Three  hundred  thousand,  young  and  old,  women  and  children, 
(of  whom  he  was  one,)  not  knowing  where  to  go,  left  on  foot  in  one 
day :  some  became  a  prey,  some  perished  by  famine,  some  by 
pestilence, — some  committed  themselves  to  the  sea,  but  were  sold 
for  slaves  when  they  came  to  any  coast ;  many  were  drowned  and 
burned  in  the  ships  which  were  set  on  fire.  In  short,  all  suffered 
the  punishment  of  God  the  Avenger." 

Benson,  in  his  Commentary,  says — "  How  these  instances  may 
affect  others,  I  know  not,  but  for  myself  I  must  acknowledge,  they 
not  only  convince,  but  astonish  me  beyond  expression.  They  are 
truly,  as  Moses  foretold  they  would  be,  a  sign  and  a  wonder  for 
ever." 

Scott  says — "  Numbers  of  captives  were  sent  by  sea  into  Egypt, 
(as  well  as  into  other  countries,)  and  sold  for  slaves  at  a  vile  price, 
and  for  the  meanest  offices;  and  many  thousands  were  left  to 
perish  from  want ;  for  the  multitude  was  so  great  that  purchasers 
could  not  be  found  for  them  all  at  any  price.  *  *  *  To  such 
wretchedness  is  every  one  exposed,  who  lives  in  disobedience  to 
God's  commands.  *  *  *  None  will  suffer  any  misery  above 
his  deserts :  but,  indeed,  we  are  all  exposed  to  this  woful  curse, 
for  breaking  the  law  of  God." 

13 


194  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

Henry  says — "  I  have  heard  of  a  wicked  man,  who,  on  reading 
these  threatenings,  was  so  enraged  that  he  tore  the  leaf  out  of  his 
Bible." 

Upon  a  review  of  all  this  evidence,  to  what  conclusion  is  the 
mind  inclined  ?  Are  there  no  circumstances  under  which  man  may 
become  a  slave — "  property,  in  the  sight  of  God  and  justice?" 

Dr.  Channing  says,  vol.  ii.  page  28 — "  Such  a  being  (man)  was 
plainly  made  to  obey  a  law  within  himself.  This  is  the  essence  of 
a  moral  being.  He  possesses,  as  part  of  his  nature,  and  the  most 
essential  part,  a  cause  of  duty,  which  he  is  to  reverence  and 
follow." 

This  is  in  accordance  with  his  idea  of  conscience — "  the  Divine 
monitor  within  us."  But  we  are  forced  to  differ  from  Dr.  Chan 
ning.  To  obey  the  law  of  God,  not  some  creature  of  man's,  or  our 
own  judgment,  is  the  creed  we  inculcate  ;  and  we  further  teach 
that  "such  a  being  was  plainly  made"  "to  reverence  and  follow" 
the  law  of  God,  not  his  own  opinion  or  the  feelings  of  his  own 
heart. 

If  this  doctrine  is  not  true  in  theology,  can  it  be  so  in  regard  to 
slavery,  or  any  thing  else  ? 

Page  29,  he  says — "  Every  thing  else  may  be  owned  in  the  uni 
verse  ;  but  a  moral,  rational  being  cannot  be  property.  Suns  and 
stars  may  be  owned,  but  not  the  lowest  spirit.  Touch  any  thing 
but  this.  Lay  not  your  hand  upon  God's  rational  offspring.  The 
whole  spiritual  world  cries  out,  FORBEAR!" 

We  do  not  quote  this  as  an  argument.  If  his  postulate  be  true 
concerning  the  "  law  within  himself,"  he  needs  no  argument ;  his 
opinion  is  enough  :  his  feeling,  his  "sense  of  duty"  governs  the 
matter.  But,  while  his  disciples  "reverence  and  follow"  their 
"  sense  of  duty,"  by  obeying  a  law  within  themselves,  and,  accord 
ing  to  their  conscience,  "  own  the  sun  and  stars,"  may  not  those 
who  believe  the  Bible  to  be  the  word  of  God,  who  "reverence  and 
follow"  it,  as  their  "  sense  of  duty,"  and  obey  it  as  a  law  within 
themselves,  according  to  their  conscience,  own  slaves  ? 

But  Dr.  Channing  continues — "  The  highest  intelligences  recog 
nise  their  own  nature,  their  own  rights,  in  the  humblest  human 
being.  By  that  priceless,  immortal  spirit  which  dwells  in  him,  by 
that  likeness  of  God  which  he  wears,  tread  him  not  in  the  dust, 
confound  him  not  with  the  brute."  And  he  then  gravely  adds — 
"  We  have  thus  seen  that  a  human  being  cannot  rightfully  be  held 
and  used  as  property.  No  legislation,  not  that  of  all  countries  or 


STUDIES   ON  SLAVERY. 

worlds,  could  make  him  so.    Let  this  be  laid  down  as  a  first,  funda 
mental  truth." 

Such  were  his  opinions.  We  view  them,  if  not  the  ravings,  at 
least  the  impressions,  of  fanaticism.  When  counsellor  Quibble 
saw  his  client  Stultus  going  to  the  stocks,  he  cried  out,  "  It  is  con 
trary  to  my  sense  of  justice ;  to  the  laws  of  God  and  man ;  no 
power  can  make  it  right !"  Yet  Stultus  is  in  the  stocks! 

But  what  shall  we  say  of  him  who  makes  the  sanction  of  his 
own  feelings  the  foundation  of  his  creed,  of  his  standard  of  right  ? 
What  of  him, who,  in  his  search  for  truth,  scarcely  or  never  alludes 
to  the  Bible  as  the  voice  of  God,  as  the  Divine  basis  of  his  reasons, 
as  the  pillar  on  which  argument  may  find  rest?  Has  some  new 
revelation  inspired  him  ?  Has  he  heard  a  voice  louder  and  more 
clear  than  the  thunder,  the  trumpet  from  the  mount  of  God  ?  Has 
he  beheld  truth  by  a  light  more  lucid  than  the  flaming  garments  of 
Jehovah  ?  Or  has  he  only  seen  a  cloud,  not  from  the  top  of  Sinai, 
but  from  the  dismal  pit  of  human  frailty  ? 


LESSON  V. 

DR.  CHANNING'S  second  proposition  is :  "  Man  has  sacred  rights, 
the  gifts  of  God,  and  inseparable  from  human  nature,  of  which 
slavery  is  the  infraction;"  in  proof  of  which  he  says,  vol.  ii.  p. 
23—"  Man's  rights  belong  to  him  as  a  moral  being,  as  capable 
of  perceiving  moral  distinctions,  a  subject  of  moral  obligation. 
As^soon  as  he  becomes  conscious  of  a  duty,  a  kindred  consciousness 
springs  up,  that  he  has  a  right  to  do  what  the  sense  of  duty  en 
joins,  and  that  no  foreign  will  or  power  can  obstruct  his  moral 
action  without  crime." 

.Suppose  man  has  rights  as  described ;  suppose  he  feels  conscious, 
as  he  says;  does  that  give  him  a  right  to  do  wrong,  because  his 
sense  of  duty  enjoins  him  to  do  so  ?  And  may  he  not  be  pre 
vented  from  so  doing  ?  Was  it  indeed  a  crime  in  God  to  turn  the 
counsels  of  Ahithophel  into  foolishness  ? 

Page  33.  "  That  some  inward  principle  which  teaches  a  man 
what  he  is  bound  to  do  to  others,  teaches  equally,  and  at  the  same 
instant,  what  others  are  bound  to  do  to  him!"  Suppose  a  few 
Africans,  on  an  excursion  to  capture  slaves,  find  that  this  "inward 


196  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


principle"  teaches  them  that  they  are  bound  to  make  a  slave  of 
Dr.  Channing,  if  they  can ;  does  he  mean  that,  therefore,  he  is 
bound  to  make  slaves  of  them  ? 

Idem,  p.  33.  "  The  sense  of  duty  is  the  fountain  of  human 
rights.  In  other  words,  the  same  inward  principle  which  teaches 
the  former,  bears  witness  to  the  latter." 

If  the  African's  sense  of  duty  gives  the  right  to  make  Dr. 
Channing  a  slave,  we  do  not  see  why  he  should  complain ;  since, 
by  his  own  rule,  the  African's  sense  of  duty  proves  him  to  possess 
the  right  which  his  sense  of  duty  covets. 

Page  34.  "  Having  shown  the  foundation  of  human  rights  in 
human  nature,  it  may  be  asked,  what  they  are.  *  *  *  They 
may  all  be  comprised  in  the  right,  which  belongs  to  every  rational 
being,  to  exercise  his  powers  for  the  promotion  of  his  own  and 
others'  happiness  and  virtue.  *  *  *  His  ability  for  this  work 
is  a  sacred  trust  from  God,  the  greatest  of  all  trusts.  He  must 
answer  for  the  waste  or  abuse  of  it.  He  consequently  suffers  an 
unspeakable  wrong  when  stripped  of  it  by  others,  or  forbidden  to 
employ  it  for  the  ends  for  which  it  is  given." 

We  regret  to  say  that  we  feel  an  objection  to  Channing's  argu 
ment  and  mode  of  reasoning,  for  its  want  of  definiteness  and  pre 
cision.  If  what  he  says  on  the  subject  of  slavery  were  merely 
intended  as  eloquent  declamations,  addressed  to  the  sympathies 
and  impulses  of  his  party,  we  should  not  have  been  disposed  to 
have  named  such  an  objection.  But  his  works  are  urged  on  the 
world  as  sound  logic,  and  of  sufficient  force  to  open  the  eyes  of 
every  slaveholder  to  the  wickedness  of  the  act,  and  to  force  him, 
through  the  medium  of  his  "  moral  sense,"  to  set  the  slaves  in 
stantly  free. 

A  moral  action  must  not  only  be  the  voluntary  offspring  of  the 
actor,  but  must  also  be  performed,  to  be  judged  by  laws  which 
shall  determine  it  to  be  good  or  bad.  These  laws,  man  being  the 
moral  agent,  we  say,  are  the  laws  of  God ;  by  them  man  is  to 
measure  his  conduct. 

Locke  says,  "  Moral  good  and  evil  are  the  conformity  or  disa 
greement  of  our  voluntary  actions  to  some  law,  whereby  good  or 
evil  is  drawn  upon  us  from  the  will  or  power  of  the  lawmaker." 

But  the  doctrine  of  Dr.  Channing  seems  to  be  that  this  law  is 
each  man's  conscience,  moral  sense,  sense  of  duty,  or  the  inward 
principle.  If  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Locke  be  sound  logic,  what 
becomes  of  these  harangues  of  Dr.  Channing  ? 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  197 

We  say,  that  the  law,  rule,  or  power  that  decides  good  or  evil, 
must  be  from  a  source  far  above  ourselves  ;  for,  if  otherwise,  the 
contradictory  and  confused  notions  of  men  must  necessarily  banish 
all  idea  of  good  and  evil  from  the  earth.  In  fact,  the  denial  of 
the  elevated,  the  Divine  source  of  such  law,  is  also  a  denial  that* 
God  governs ;  for  government  without  law  is  a  contradiction. 

If  the  conscience,  as  Dr.  Channing  thinks,  is  the  guide  between 
right  and  wrong  according  to  the  law  of  God ;  then  the  law  of 
God  must  be  quite  changeable,  because  the  minds  of  men  differ. 
Each  makes  his  own  deduction ;  therefore,  in  that  case,  the  law 
of  God  must  be  what  each  one  may  severally  think  it  to  be;  which 
is  only  other  language  to  say  there  is  no  law  at  all.  "  Every  way 
of  a  man  is  right  in  his  own  eyes."  Prov.  xxi.  2.  But,  "The 
statutes  of  the  Lord  are  right."  Ps.  xix.  8.  The  laws  of  God 
touching  the  subject  of  slavery  are  spread  through  every  part  of 
the  Scriptures.  Human  reason  may  do  battle,  but  the  only  result 
will  be  the  manifestation  of  its  weakness.  The  institution  of 
slavery  must,  of  necessity,  continue  in  some  form,  so  long  as  sin 
shall  have  a  tendency  to  lead  to  death  ;  so  long  as  Jehovah  shall 
rule,  and  exercise  the  attributes  of  mercy  to  fallen,  degraded  man. 

But  let  us  for  a  moment  view  the  facts  accompanying  the  slavery 
of  the  African  race,  and  compare  them  with  the  assertion,  p.  35, 
that  every  slave  "suffers  a  grievous  wrong;"  and,  p.  49,  that 
every  slave-owner  is  a  "robber,"  however  unconscious  he  may  be 
of  the  fact. 

So  far  as  history  gives  us  any  knowledge  of  the  African  tribes, 
for  the  last  4000  years,  their  condition  has  been  stationary ;  at 
least  they  have  given  no  evidence  of  advancement  in  morals  or 
civilization  beyond  what  has  been  the  immediate  effect  of  the  ex 
change  of  their  slaves  for  the  commodities  of  other  parts  of  the 
world.  So  far  as  this  trade  had  influence,  it  effected  almost  a 
total  abolition  of  cannibalism  among  them.  That  the  cessation  of 
cannibalism  was  the  result  of  an  exchange  of  their  slaves  as  pro 
perty  for  the  merchandise  of  the  Christian  nations,  is  proved  by 
the  fact  that  they  have  returned  to  their  former  habits  in  that 
respect  upon  those  nations  discontinuing  the  slave-trade  with 
them.  Which  is  the  greatest  wrong  to  a  slave,  to  be  continued  in 
servitude,  or  to  be  butchered  for  food,  because  his  labour  is  not 
wanted  by  his  owner  ? 

No  very  accurate  statistics  can  be  given  of  African  affairs ;  but 
their  population  has  been  estimated  at  50,000,000,  and  to  have 


198  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


been  about  the  same  for  many  centuries ;  of  which  population,  even 
including  the  wildest  tribes,  far  over  four-fifths  have  ever  been 
slaves  among  themselves.  The  earliest  and  the  most  recent  travel 
lers  among  them  agree  as  to  the  facts,  that  they  are  cannibals ;  that 
they  are  idolaters,  or  that  they  have  no  trace  of  religion  whatever ; 
that  marriage  with  them  is  but  promiscuous  intercourse ;  that  there 
is  but  little  or  no  affection  between  husband  and  wife,  parent  arid 
children,  old  or  young ;  that  in  mental  or  moral  capacity,  they  are 
but  a  grade  above  the  brute  creation  ;  that  the  slaves  and  women 
alone  do  any  labour,  and  they  often  not  enough  to  keep  them  from 
want ;  that  their  highest  views  are  to  take  slaves,  or  to  kill  a 
neighbouring  tribe ;  that  they  evince  no  desire  for  improvement, 
or  to  ameliorate  their  condition.  In  short,  that  they  are,  and  ever 
have  been,  from  the  earliest  knowledge  of  them,  savages  of  the 
most  debased  character.  We  have,  in  a  previous  study,  quoted 
authority  in  proof  of  these  facts,  to  which  we  refer. 

Will  any  one  hesitate  to  acknowledge,  that,  to  them,  slavery, 
regulated  by  law,  among  civilized  nations  is  a  state  of  moral, 
mental,  and  physical  elevation  ?  A  proof  of  this  is  found  in  the 
fact  that  the  descendants  of  such  slaves  are  found  to  be,  in  all 
things,  their  superiors.  If  their  descendants  were  found  to  dete 
riorate  from  the  condition  of  the  parents,  we  should  hesitate  to  say 
that  slavery  was  to  them  a  blessing.  Which  would  man  consider 
the  most  like  an  act  of  mercy  in  Jehovah,  to  continue  them  in 
their  state  of  slavery  to  their  African  master,  brother,  and  owner, 
or  to  order  them  into  that  condition  of  slavery  in  which  we  find 
them  in  these  States  ?  Which  state  of  slavery  would  a  man  prefer, 
to  a  savage,  or  to  a  civilized  master  ? 

The  Hebrews,  Medes,  Persians,  Chaldeans,  Syrians,  Greeks,  and 
Romans  have,  on  the  borders  of  Africa,  to  some  extent,  amalga 
mated  with  them,  from  time  immemorial.  But  such  amalgamation 
has  never  been  known  to  attain  to  the  position,  either  physically, 
mentally,  or  morally,  of  their  foreign  progenitors ;  perhaps  superior 
to  the  interior  tribes,  yet  often  they  scarcely  exhibit  a  mental  or 
moral  trace  of  their  foreign  extraction.  The  thoughtless,  those 
of  slovenly  morals,  or  those  of  none  at  all,  from  among  the  de 
scendants  of  Japheth,  have  commingled  with  them  in  the  new 
world ;  but  the  amalgamation  never  exhibits  a  corresponding  ele 
vation  in  the  direction  of  the  white  progenitor.  The  connection 
may  degrade  the  parent,  but  never  elevate  the  offspring.  The 
great  mass  look  upon  the  connection  with  abhorrence  and  loathing  ; 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  199 

and  pity  or  contempt  always  attends  the  footsteps  of  tne  aggressor. 
These  feelings  are  not  confined  to  any  particular  country  or  age 
of  the  world.  Are  not  these  things  proof  that  the  descendants  of 
Ham  are  a  deteriorated  race  ?  Will  the  declarations  of  a  few  dis 
tempered  minds,  as  to  their  religion,  feeling,  and  taste,  weigh  in 
contradiction  ?  What  was  the  judgment  of  Isaac  and  Rebecca  on 
this  subject?  See  Gen.  xxvi.  35;  xxvii.  46;  also  xxviii.  1. 

Since  the  days  of  Noah,  where  are  their  monuments  of  art,  re 
ligion,  science,  and  civilization  ?  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  the  highest 
moral  and  intellectual  attainment  which  the  descendants  of  Ham 
ever  displayed  is  now,  at  this  time,  manifested  among  those  in 
servile  pupilage  ?  The  very  fact  of  their  being  property  gives 
them  protection.  What,  he  their  "robber,"  who  watches  over 
their  welfare  with  more  effect  and  integrity  than  all  their  ancestry 
together  since  the  days  of  Noah !  By  the  contrivance  of  making 
them  property,  has  Grod  alone  given  them  the  protection  which 
4000  years  of  sinking  degradation  demand,  in  an  upward  move 
ment  towards  their  physical,  mental,  and  moral  improvement,  their 
rational  happiness  on  earth,  and  their  hopes  of  heaven.  What, 
God's  agent  in  this  matter  a  robber  of  them ! 

Let  us  assure  the  disciples  of  Dr.  Channing  that  there  are  thou 
sands  of  slaves  too  acute  observers  of  truth  to  come  to  such  a 
conclusion;  who,  although  from  human  frailty  they  may  some 
times  seem  to  suffer  an  occasional  or  grievous  wrong,  can  yet  give 
good  reason  in  proof  that  slavery  is  their  only  safety.  Let  us 
cast  the  mind  back  to  a  period  of  five  hundred  years  ago.  A 
Christian  ship,  intent  on  new  discoveries,  lands  on  the  African 
coast.  The  petty  chieftain  there,  is  and  about  to  sacrifice  a  num 
ber  of  his  slaves,  either  to  appease  the  manes  of  his  ancestor,  to 
propitiate  his  gods,  or  to  gratify  his  appetite  by  feasting.  Presents 
have  been  made  to  the  natives ;  it  is  thought  their  friendship  is 
secured;  the  Christians  are  invited  to  the  fete,  the  participants  are 
collected,  the  victims  brought  forward,  and  the  club  uplifted  for 
the  blow.  The  Christians,  struck  with  surprise,  or  excited  by 
horror,  remonstrate  with  the  chief ;  to  which  he  sullenly  replies  : 
"Yonder  my  goats,  my  village,  all  around  my  domain;  these  are 
my  slaves!"  meaning  that,  by  the  morals  and  laws  that  have  from 
time  immemorial  prevailed  there,  his  rights  are  absolute ;  that  he 
feels  it  as  harmless  to  kill  a  slave  as  a  goat,  or  dwell  in  his  village. 
But  the  clothing  of  the  Christian  is  presented,  the  viands  of  art 
are  offered,  the  food  of  civilization  is  tasted,  the  cupidity  of  the 


9QO  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

savage  is  tempted,  and  the  fete  celebrated  through  a  novel  and 
more  valuable  offering.  What,  these  Christians,  who  have  bought 
these  slaves,  rollers! 

Let  us  look  back  to  the  days  of  the  house  of  Saul,  when,  per 
haps,  David,  hiding  himself  from  his  face  amid  the  villages  of 
Ammon,  chanced  upon  the  ancestors  of  Naamah,  the  mother  of 
Rehoboam,  a  later  king  of  Israel.  Finding  them  about  to  sacri 
fice  a  child  upon  the  altar  of  Moloch,  "  Stay  thy  hand !"  says  the 
son  of  Jesse  ;  "  I  have  a  message  to  thee  from  the  God  of  Israel ; 
deliver  me  the  child  for  these  thirty  pieces  of  silver  !"  And,  accord 
ing  to  the  law  of  the  God  of  his  fathers,  it  becomes  his  "  bond-man 
for  ever."  What,  was  David  a  robber  in  all  this  ?  Suppose  the 
child  to  have  been  sold,  resold,  and  sold  again,  is  the  character  of 
the  owner  changed  thereby  ? 

But  it  is  concerning  the  rights  of  the  descendants  of  these 
slaves  that  we  have  now  to  inquire.  See  Luke  xvii.  7-10 : 

"  7.  But  which  of  you  having  a  servant  (ooi)/lo£,  slave)  ploughing 
or  feeding  cattle,  will  say  unto  him  by  and  by,  when  he  has  come 
from  the  field,  Go,  and  sit  down  to  meat  ? 

"  8.  And  will  not  rather  say  unto  him,  Make  ready  wherewith 
I  may  sup,  and  gird  thyself,  and  serve  me,  till  I  have  eaten  and 
drunken  ;  and  afterwards  thou  shalt  eat  and  drink  ? 

"  9.  Doth  he  thank  that  servant  (Sovhov,  'slave)  because  he  did 
the  things  that  were  commanded  him  ?  I  trow  not. 

"  10.  So  likewise  ye,  when  ye  have  done  all  those  things  which 
are  commanded  you,  say,  We  are  unprofitable  servants :  we  have 
done  that  which  was  our  duty  to  do." 

Suppose  a  proprietor,  in  any  country  or  at  any  age,  receives  into 
his  employment  an  individual,  who  thereafter  resides  and  has  a 
family  upon  his  estate :  upon  the  death  of  the  individual,  will  his 
heirs  accrue  to  any  of  the  rights  of  the  proprietor,  other  than  those 
granted,  or  those  consequent  to  their  own  or  their  ancestor's  con 
dition,  or  those  that  may  accrue  by  operation  of  law  ?  Where  is 
the  political  enactment,  the  moral  precept,  the  Divine  command, 
teaching  an  adverse  doctrine  ? 

Before  we  close  our  view  of  Dr.  Channing's  second  proposition, 
we  design  to  notice  his  use  of  the  word  <* nature."  He  says,  that 
man  has  rights,  gifts  of  God,  inseparable  from  human  "nature." 
We  confess  that  we^are  somewhat  at  a  loss  to  determine  the  pre 
cise  idea  the  doctor  affixes  to  this  term.  The  phrase  "human 
nature"  is  in  most  frequent  use  through  these  volumes.  But  in  vol. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  201 


i.  page  74,  he  says — "Great  powers,  even  in  their  perversion, 
attest  a  glorious  nature."  Page  77:  "The  infinite  materials  of 
illustration  which  nature  and  life  afford."  Page  82  :  "  To  regard 
despotism  as  a  law  of  nature."  Page  84:  "His  superiority  to 
nature,  as  well  as  to  human  opposition."  Page  95:  "We  will 
inquire  into  the  nature  and  fitness  of  the  measures."  Page  98  : 
"  The  first  object  in  education  naturally  was  to  fit  him  for  the 
field."  Page  110:  "From  the  principles  of  our  nature." 
Page  111:  "Nature  and  the  human  will  were  to  bend  to  his 
power."  Idem:  "  He  wanted  the  sentiment  of  a  common  nature 
with  his  fellow-beings."  Page  112  :  "  With  powers  which  might 
have  made  him  a  glorious  representative  and  minister  of  the  bene 
ficent  Divinity,  and  with  natural  sensibilities."  Page  119: 
"  Traces  out  the  general  and  all-comprehending  laws  of  nature." 
Page  143 :  "  A  power  which  robs  men  of  the  free  use  of  their 
nature"  &c.  Page  146  :  "  Its  efficiency  resembles  that  of  dark 
ness  and  cold  in  the  natural  world."  Page  184  :  "  Whose  writings 
seem  to  be  natural  breathings  of  the  soul."  Page  189:  "Lan 
guage  like  this  has  led  men  to  very  injurious  modes  of  regarding 
themselves,  and  their  own  nature."  Idem:  "  A  man  when  told 
perpetually  to  crucify  himself,  is  apt  to  include  under  this  word 
his  whole  nature."  Idem:  "Men  err  in  nothing  more  than  in 
disparaging  and  wronging  their  own  nature."  Idem:  "If  we 
first  regard  man's  highest  nature"  Page  190  :  "We  believe  that 
the  human  mind  is  akin  to  that  intellectual  energy,  which  gave 
birth  to  nature."  Idem  :  "  Taking  human  nature  as  consisting  of 
a  body  as  well  as  mind,  as  including  animal  desire,"  &c.  Idem: 
"We  believe  that  he  in  whom  the  physical  nature  is  unfolded." 
Page  191:  "But  excess  is  not  essential  to  self-regard,  and  this 
principle  of  our  nature  is  the  last  which  could  be  spared." 
Page  192  :  "  Is  is  the  great  appointed  trial  of  our  moral  nature." 
Page  193 :  "  Our  nature  has  other  elements  or  constituents,  and 
vastly  higher  ones."  Idem :  "  For  truth,  which  is  its  object,  is 
of  a  universal,  impartial  nature."  Page  196  :  "  Is  the  most  sig 
nal  proof  of  a  higher  nature  which  can  be  given."  Idem :  "  It  is 
a  sovereignty  worth  more  than  that  over  outward  nature."  Idem: 
u  Its  great  end  is  to  give  liberty  and  energy  to  our  nature." 
Page  198  :  "  Our  moral,  intellectual,  immortal  nature  we  cannot 
remember  too  much."  Page  200  :  "  The  moral  nature  of  religion." 
Page  202 :  "  We  even  think  that  our  love  of  nature."  Idem :  "  For 
the  harmonies  of  nature  are  only  his  wisdom  made  visible." 


202  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


Page  203:  "  That  progress  in  truth  is  the  path  of  nature" 
Page  211 :  "  It  has  the  liberality  and  munificence  of  nature,  which 
not  only  produces  the  necessary  root  and  grain,  but  pours  forth 
fruits  and  flowers.  It  has  the  variety  and  bold  contrasts  of 
nature."  Idem:  "The  beautiful  and  the  superficial  seem  to  be 
naturally  conjoined."  Page  212:  "And  by  a  law  of  his  nature." 
Page  213  :  "  These  gloomy  and  appalling  features  of  our  nature." 
Page  215  :  "  These  conflicts  between  the  passions  and  the  moral 


o 

nature. 


We  regret  that  so  eminent  and  accurate  a  scholar,  and  so  influ 
ential  a  man,  should  have  fallen  into  such  an  indefinite  and1  con 
fused  use  of  any  portion  of  our  language.  If  we  mistake  not,  it 
will  require  more  than  usual  reflection  for  the  mind  to  determine 
what  idea  is  presented  by  its  use  in  the  most  of  these,  instances. 
We  know  that  some  use  this  word  so  vaguely,  that  if  required  to 
explain  the  idea  they  wished  to  convey  by  it,  they  would  be  unable 
to  do  so.  But  there  are  those  from  whom  we  expect  a  better  use 
of  language.  Many  English  readers  pass  over  such  sentences 
without  stopping  to  think  what  are  the  distinct  ideas  of  the  writer. 
There  are,  in  our  language,  a  few  words  used  in  our  conversational 
dialect,  as  if  especially  intended  for  the  speaker's  aid  when  he  only 
had  a  confused  idea,  or  perhaps  none  at  all,  of  what  he  designed 
to  say;  and  we  extremely  regret  that  words,  to  us  of  so  important 
meaning,  as  nature  and  conscience,  should  be  found  among  that 
class.  The  teacher  of  theology  and  morals  should  surely  be  care 
ful  not  to  lead  his  pupils  into  error.  Might  not  the  unskilled  in 
quirer  infer  that  nature  was  a  substantive  existence,  taking  rank 
somewhere  between  man  and  the  Deity  ?  And  what  would  be  his 
notion,  derived  from  such  use  of  the  term,  of  its  oflices,  of  its  in 
fluence  on,  and  man's  relation  with  it  ?  What  is  our  notion  as  to 
the  definite  idea  these  passages  convey  ? 

"  Man  has  rights,  gifts  of  God,  inseparable  from  human  nature, 
of  which  slavery  is  the  infraction."  By  "human  nature,"  as  here 
used,  we  understand  the  condition  or  state  of  being  a  man  in  a 
general  sense.  Our  inference  is,  then,  that  God  has  given  man 
rights,,  that  is,  all  men  the  same  rights,  which  are  inseparable 
from  his  state  of  being  a  man ;  consequently,  if  by  any  means 
these  rights  are  taken  from  him,  then  his  state  of  being  a  man  is 
changed,  or  ceases  to  exist ;  and  since  slavery  breaks  these  rights, 
therefore  a  slave  is  not  a  man. 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  203 


r 


But  the  fact  we  find  to  be  that  the  slave  is,  nevertheless,  a  man ; 
and  hence  it  follows  that  these  rights  were  not  inseparable  from 
his  state  of  being  a  man,  or  that  he  had  not  the  rights. 

If  slavery  is  sinful  because  it  infringes  the  rights  of  man,  then 
any  other  thing  is  also  sinful  which  infringes  them.  Will  the  dis 
ciples  of  Dr.  Channing  deny  that  these  rights  are  infringed  by  the 
constitution  of  the  civil  government  ?  The  law  gives  parents  the 
right  to  govern,  command,  and  restrain  minor  children ;  to  inflict 
punishment  for  their  disobedience.  Is  parental  authority  a  sin  ? 
Government,  in  every  form,  is  found  to  deprive  females  of  a  large 
proportion  of  the  rights  which  men  possess.  When  married,  their 
rights  are  wholly  absorbed  in  the  rights  of  the  husband.  This 
must  be  very  sinful ! 

Idiots  have  no  rights./  In  reality,  the  very  idea  of  rights  vanishes 
away  with  the  power  to  exercise  them.  But  in  a  state  of  civil  go 
vernment,  it  is  a  mere  question  of  expediency  how  personal  rights 
shall  be  adjusted  ;  which  is  very  manifest,  if  we  look  at  the  different 
constitutions  of  government  now  in  the  world.  In  one,  men  who  fol 
low  certain  occupations  have  certain  rights  as  a  consequence.  Men 
who  are  found  guilty  of  certain  breaches  of  the  law  lose  a  portion 
or  all  their  rights.  The  president  of  our  senate  loses  the  right  to 
vote,  except  under  condition  ;  and  we  agree  that  a  mere  majority 
shall  rule.  Thus  forty-nine  of  the  hundred  cease  to  find  their 
rights  available.  They  must  submit.  Man,  as  a  member  of  civil 
society,  is  only  a  small  fraction  of  an  unit,  and  has  no  right  to  ex 
ercise  a  right  unconformably  to  the  expression  of  the  sense  of  the 
general  good.  Man  has  no  right  to  live  independent  of  his  fellow- 
man,  like  a  plant  or  a  tree ;  consequently,  his  rights  must  be  de 
termined  and  bounded  by  the  general  welfare.  Dr.  Channing 
ceases  to  be  enlightened  by  moral  science  when  he  announces 
that,  because  a  man  is  "  conscious  of  duty,"  therefore,  what  he 
may  think  his  right  cannot  be  affected  by  others  "without  crime." 
So  reverse  may  be  the  fact,  that  it  may  be  a  crime  in  him  to  claim 
the  right  his  conscious  duty  may  suggest. 

Man  cannot  be  said  to  be  in  possession  of  all  things  that  he,  or 
such  theorists,  may  deem  his  rights  only  in  a  monocratic  state. 
But  how  will  he  retain  them  ?  For  then,  so  far  as  he  shall  have 
intercourse  with  others,  every  thing  will  come  to  be  decided  by  the 
law  of  might ;  so  that,  instead  of  gaining,  he  will  lose  all  rights. 
But  suppose  him  to  live  without  intercourse ;  what  is  a  naked,  abstract 
right,  that  yields  him  nothing  above  the  brute  ?  God  never  made 


204  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

a  man  for  such  a  state  of  life  ;  because  it  at  once  includes  rebellion 
to  his  government ;  and,  therefore,  its  every  movement  will  be  to 
retrograde. 

Will  the  disciples  of  Dr.  Channing  be  surprised  to  find  that  the 
only  medicine  God  has  prepared  for  such  a  loathsome  moral  disease 
as  will  then  be  developed,  is  slavery  to  a  higher  order  of  men  ? 


LESSON  VI. 

DR.  CHANNING'S  third  position  is  to  offer  explanations  to  prevent 
misapplication  of  the  principles  presented  in  his  first  two  proposi 
tions. 

Vol.  ii.  page  51,  he  says — "  Sympathy  with  the  slave  has  often 
degenerated  into  injustice  towards  the  master."  We  fully  agree 
with  him;  and  we  also  admit  "that  the  consciences  of  men  are 
often  darkened  by  education."  This  short  chapter  is  evidently 
written  in  a  spirit  of  conciliation,  and  contains  many  truths  elo 
quently  told ;  yet,  he  finally  grasps  his  doctrines,  and  repeats  his 
elucidations. 

His  fourth  position  is,  "  To  unfold  the  evils  of  slavery."  He 
says  the  first  great  evil  is  the  debasement  of  the  slave.  Page  60 : 
"  This  word,  (slave,)  borrowed  from  his  condition,  expresses  the 
ruin  wrought  by  slavery  within  him.  *  *  *  To  be  an  instrument 
of  the  physical,  material  good  of  another,  whose  will  is  his  highest 
law,  he  is  taught  to  regard  as  the  great  purpose  of  his  being. 
Here  lies  the  evil  of  slavery.  Its  whips,  imprisonment,  and  even 
the  horrors  of  the  middle  passage  from  Africa  to  America,  these 
are  not  to  be  named  in  comparison  with  this  extinction  of  the  pro 
per  consciousness  of  a  human  being,  with  the  degradation  of  a  man 
into  a  brute." 

If  it  be  a  fact  that  the  debasement  of  the  negro  race  has  been 
brought  about  by  their  having  been  made  slaves  in  America ;  then 
it  will  be  a  very  strong  argument,  we  are  willing  to  acknowledge, 
an  insurmountable  one,  against  the  institution.  That  Dr.  Channing 
thinks  such  to  be  the  fact,  we  have  no  doubt ;  for  we  cannot  a  mo 
ment  admit  that  he  would  assert  what  he  did  not  believe  was  true. 
But  "the  consciences  of  men  are  often  darkened  by  education." 
We  hold  that  the  assertion  is  capable  of  proof,  that  the  debasement 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  205 

of  the  race  was  the  moral,  the  necessary  effect  of  a  long  course  of 
sin ;  and  that,  instead  of  slavery  producing  the  debasement,  the 
fact  is,  the  debasement  produced  the  slavery ;  or,  in  other  words, 
slavery  is  the  moral,  the  necessary  effect  of  the  debasement. 

The  leading  object,  through  all  our  studies,  is  the  elucidation  of 
the  fact,  that  sin  has  a  poisonous  effect  upon  the  moral,  mental, 
and  physical  man,  that  is  in  constant  action  in  the  direction  of 
deterioration,  debasement,  ruin,  death.  Such  we  teach  to  be  the 
doctrine  of  the  holy  books,  spread  through  the  whole  volume, 
elucidated  upon  every  page ;  that  slavery,  like  a  saviour,  steps  in 
upon  this  descending  road,  arresting  the  downward  progress,  the 
rapid  fall  to  final,  to  unalterable  ruin  and  death. 

"  If  his  children  forsake  my  law,  and  walk  not  in  my  judgments ; 
if  they  break  my  statutes,  and  keep  not  my  commandments, — then 
will  I  visit  their  transgressions  with  the  rod,  and  their  iniquity 
with  stripes."  Ps.  Ixxxix.  30-32.     "  A  righteous  man  hateth  lying : 
but  a  wicked  man  is  loathsome,  and  cometh  to  shame."  Prov. 
xiii.  5.     "  Thou  turnest  man  to  destruction  ;  and  sayest,  return, 
ye  children  of  men."  Ps.  xc.  3.     « I  have  therefore  delivered  unto 
the  mighty  one  of  the  heathen ;  he  shall  surely  deal  with  him  :  I 
have  driven  him  out  for  his  wickedness."  Ezek.  xxxi.  11.     "And  I 
will  sell  your  sons  and  your  daughters  into  the  hands  of  the  children 
of  Judah,   and  they  shall  sell  them  to  the  Sabeans,  to  a  people 
far  off;  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it."  Joel  iii.  8.     "Nevertheless 
they  shall  be  his  servants  (DHD#S  slaves),  that  they  may  know  my 
service  (^^y,  slavery),  and  the  service  (nilD^l,  slavery)  of  the 
kingdoms  of  the  countries."  2  Chron.  xii.  8.'     "The  show  of  their 
countenance  doth  witness  against  them  ;  and  they  declare  their  sin 
as  Sodom,  they  hide  it  not.     Wo  unto  their  soul !  for  they  have 
rewarded  evil  unto  themselves."  Isa.  iii.  9.     "  Therefore  my  peo 
ple  are  gone  into  captivity,  because  they  have  no  knowledge;  and 
their  honourable  men  are  famished,  and  their  multitude  dried  up 
with  thirst."     "  And  the  mean  man  shall  be  brought  down,  and  the 
mighty  man  shall  be  humbled,  and  the  eyes  of  the  lofty  shall  be 
humbled  :  but  the  Lord  of  hosts  shall  be  exalted  in  judgment,  and 
God  that  is  holy  shall  be  sanctified  in  righteousness."  Isa.  v.  13 
15,  16. 

Dr.  Channing's  book  before  us  goes  on  to  specify  this  debase 
ment  as  to  the  intellect ;  its  influence  on  the  domestic  relations; 
how  it  "produces  and  gives  license  to  cruelty."  The  fact  that 


206  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

debasement  reaches  all  these  points,  we  agree  to ;  nay,  further, 
that  it  reaches  to  every  act  and  thought.  But  we  refer  all  these 
displays  of  debasement  to  the  result  of  the  degradation,  of  which 
slavery  is  only  the  moral,  the  natural  consequence.  If  we  find  a 
man  debased  as  to  one  thing,  it  is  in  conformity  with  the  common 
sense  of  mankind  to  expect  to  find  him  debased  as  to  another. 

Channing,  pp.  78,  79.  "  I  proceed  to  another  view  of  the  evils 
of  slavery.  I  refer  to  its  influence  on  the  master.  *  *  *  I  pass 
over  many  views.  *  *  *  I  will  confine  myself  to  two  consider 
ations.  The  first  is,  that  slavery,  above  all  other  influences,  nou 
rishes  the  passion  for  power  and  its  kindred  vices.  There  is  no 
passion  which  needs  a  stronger  curb.  Men's  worst  crimes  have 
sprung  from  the  desire  of  being  masters,  of  bending  others  to  their 
yoke." 

It  is  to  be  lamented  that  man  is  so  prone  to  sin ;  that  he  is  not 
more  undeviating  in  the  paths  of  virtue,  of  goodness,  of  perfection. 
The  charge  made  by  Dr.  Channing  in  the  passage  quoted,  we  are 
sorry  to  acknowledge,  is  too  true.  But  so  far  as  we  have  any 
knowledge  of  the  history  of  man,  even  in  the  absence  of  slavery, 
the  time  has  never  been  when  the  passion  for  power  and  its 
kindred  vices  did  not  find  sufficient  food  for  their  nourishment. 
The  evil  passions  alluded  to  are  not  so  particular  as  to  their  food 
but  that,  if  they  do  not  find  a  choice  thing  to  nourish  themselves 
on,  they  will  feed  and  nourish  themselves  on  another. 

It,  perhaps,  would  not  be  difficult  to  show  that  the  love  of  power 
and  its  kindred  vices  first  operated  to  bring  on  us  "  all  our  wo ;" 
stimulated  Cain  to  kill  Abel ;  in  fact,  has  been  in  most  powerful 
action  among  those  causes  that  have  introduced  slavery  to  the 
world.  Slavery  gave  no  birth  to  these  passions.  They  drove 
Nebuchadnezzar  from  his  throne  down  to  the  degradation  of  the 
brute.  "  Is  not  this  great  Babylon  that  I  have  built  for  the  house 
of  the  kingdom,  by  the  might  of  my  power,  and  for  the  honour  of 
my  majesty?"  Dan.  iv.  12. 

He  had  great  power,  great  wealth,  and,  it  is  true,  he  had  great 
possessions  in  slaves.  The  prophet  understood  his  case,  and  spoke 
plainly.  If  his  owning  thousands  of  slaves  merely  had  nursed  in 
him  a  forgetfulness  of  God,  the  seer  would  not  have  hesitated  so  to 
inform  him.  Great  prosperity  in  the  affairs  of  the  world  in  his  case, 
as  in  some  others  of  a  somewhat  later  day,  so  puffed  him  up  that 
he  forgot  who  he  was.  The  owning  of  slaves  may  puff  up  a  silly 
intellect— doubtless,  often  does ;  but  the  same  intellect  would  be 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVEEY.  207 

more  likely  to  be  puffed  up  by  a  command  of  a  more  elevated 
graders  officers  of  government,  or,  even  in  private  life,  by  the  con 
trol  of  superior  amounts  of  wealth ;  or  even  by  the  conceit  of  pos 
sessing  a  great  superiority  of  intellect. 

Doubtless,  the  disciples  of  Dr.  Channing  will  agree  that  abun 
dant  instances  of  such  tumidity  might  be  found  in  any  country, 
even  among  those  who  never  owned  a  slave. 

It  may  be  a  fact,  that,  to  some,  the  having  control  over  and 
owning  a  slave  have  a  greater  tendency  to  produce  the  effect  of 
puffing  up  the  owner  than  would  his  value  in  money  or  other  pro 
perty  ;  because  it  may  be  a  fact  that  a  given  amount  in  one  kind 
of  property  may  possess  such  tendency  to  a  greater  extent  than 
another.  But  the  truth  probably  is,  that  one  man  would  be  the 
most  puffed  up  by  one  thing,  and  another  man  by  another.  We 
agree  that  being  thus  puffed  up  is  a  sin ;  that  it  leads  to  conse 
quences  extremely  ruinous,  and  often  fatal.  Very  small  men  are 
also  liable  to  the  disease,  and  they  sometimes  take  it  from  very 
slight  causes.  It  is  true,  "  there  is  no  passion  that  needs  a  stronger 
curb."  What  we  contend  is,  that  it  is  not  a  necessary  consequence 
of  owning  slaves,  any  more  than  it  is  of  owning  any  other  property, 
or  of  possessing  any  other  command  of  men ;  and  that  so  far  as  it 
is  an  argument  against  owning  slaves,  it  is  also  an  argument 
against  owning  any  other  property,  or  of  having  any  other  control, 
or  of  possessing  any  other  command  among  men. 


LESSON  VII. 

DR.  CHAINING  continues  his  view  of  the  evils  of  slavery,  and 
.says,  p.  80,  81— 

"  I  approach  a  more  delicate  subject,  and  one  on  which  I  shall 
not  enlarge.  To  own  the  persons  of  others,  to  hold  females  in 
slavery,  is  necessarily  fatal  to  the  purity  of  a  people :  that  unpro 
tected  females,  stripped  by  their  degraded  condition  of  woman's 
self-respect,  should  be  used  to  minister  to  other  passions  in  man 
than  the  love  of  gain,  is  next  to  inevitable.  Accordingly,  in  such 
a  community,  the  reins  are  given  to  youthful  licentiousness. 
Youth,  everywhere  in  peril,  is,  in  these  circumstances,  urged  to 
vice  with  a  terrible  power.  And  the  evil  cannot  stop  at  youth. 
Early  licentiousness  is  fruitful  of  crime  in  mature  life.  How  far 


208  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


the  obligation  to  conjugal  fidelity,  the  sacredness  of  domestic  ties, 
will  be  revered  amid  such  habits,  such  temptations,  such  facilities 
to  vice  as  are  involved  in  slavery,  needs  no  exposition.  So  sure 
and  terrible  is  retribution  even  in  this  life  !  Domestic  happiness 
is  not  blighted  in  the  slave's  hut  alone.  The  master's  infidelity 
sheds  a  blight  over  his  own  domestic  affections  and  joys.  Home, 
without  purity  and  constancy,  is  spoiled  of  its  holiest  charm  and 
most  blessed  influences.  I  need  not  say,  after  the  preceding  expla 
nations,  that  this  corruption  is  far  from  being  universal.  Still,  a 
slave-country  reeks  with  licentiousness.  It  is  tainted  with  a 
deadlier  pestilence  than  the  plague. 

"  But  the  worst  is  not  told.  As  a  consequence  of  criminal  con 
nections,  many  a  master  has  children  born  into  slavery.  Of  these, 
most,  I  presume,  receive  protection,  perhaps  indulgence,  during  the 
life  of  the  fathers  ;  but  at  their  death,  not  a  few  are  left  to  the 
chances  of  a  cruel  bondage.  These  cases  must  have  increased 
since  the  difficulties  of  emancipation  have  been  multiplied.  Still 
more,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  there  are  cases  in  which  the  master 
puts  his  own  children  under  the  whip  of  the  overseer,  or  sells  them 
to  undergo  the  miseries  of  a  bondage  among  strangers. 

"  I  should  rejoice  to  learn  that  my  impressions  on  this  point  are 
false.  If  they  be  true,  then  our  own  country,  calling  itself  en 
lightened  and  Christian,  is  defiled  with  one  of  the  greatest  enormi 
ties  on  earth.  We  send  missionaries  to  heathen  lands.  Among  the 
pollutions  of  heathenism,  I  know  nothing  worse  than  this.  The 
heathen  who  feasts  on  his  country's  foe,  may  hold  up  his  head  by 
the  side  of  the  Christian  who  sells  his  child  for  gain,  sells  him  to 
be  a  slave.  God  forbid  that  I  should  charge  this  crime  to  a  people ! 
But,  however  rarely  it  may  occur,  it  is  a  fruit  of  slavery,  an  exercise 
of  power  belonging  to  slavery,  and  no  laws  restrain  or  punish  it. 
Such  are  the  evils  which  spring  naturally  from  the  licentiousness 
generated  by  slavery." 

The  owner  of  slaves  who  acts  in  conformity  to  the  foregoing 
picture,  to  our  mind  displays  proofs  of  very  great  debasement,  and 
his  offspring,  stained  with  the  blood  of  Ham,  we  should  deem  most 
likely  to  be  quite  fit  subjects  of  slavery :  we  cannot  therefore  re 
gret  that  the  laws  do  not  punish  nor  restrain  him  from  selling  them 
as  slaves ;  we  should  rather  regret  that  the  laws  did  not  compel 
him  to  go  with  them. 

That  there  are  instances  in  the  Slave  States  where  the  owner  of 
female  slaves  cohabits  with  them,  and  has  offspring  by  them,  is 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  9Q9 

true.  There  may  be  instances  where  such  parent  has  sold  them 
into  slavery, — they,  in  law,  being  his  slaves ;  yet  we  aver  we  have 
never  known  an  instance  in  which  it  has  been  done.  That  such 
offspring  have  been  sold  as  slaves,  by  the  operation  of  law,  must 
certainly  be  acknowledged;  and  that  such  instances  have  been 
more  frequent  since  the  action  of  the  abolitionists  has  aroused  the 
Slave  States  to  a  sense  of  their  danger,  and  thereby  caused  the  laws 
to  be  more  stringent  on  the  subject  of  emancipation,  is  also  true. 
And  are  you,  ye  agitators  of  the  slave  question,  willing  to  ac 
knowledge  this  fact?  And  that  your  conduct — even  you  your 
selves — are  even  now  the  cause,  under  God,  of  the  present  condi 
tion  of  slavery,  which  many  such  persons  now  endure  ?  Is  not  he 
who  places  the  obstruction  on  the  highway,  whereby  the  traveller 
is  plunged  in  death,  the  guilty  one  ?  In  what  light,  think  ye,  must 
this  class  of  slaves  view  you  and  your  conduct  ?  But  we  wish  not 
to  upbraid  you.  If  you  are  ignorant,  words  are  useless.  If  you 
are  honest  men  and  know  the  truth,  we  prefer  to  leave  you  in  the 
hands  of  God  and  your  own  conscience. 

We  hold  that  cohabitation  with  the  blacks,  on  the  part  of  the 
whites,  is  a  great  sin,  and  is  proof  of  a  great  moral  debasement ; 
nor  will  we  say  but  that  the  conservative  influences  of  God's  provi 
dence  may  have  moved  the  abolitionists  to  the  action  of  for  ever 
placing  a  bar  to  the  emancipation  of  this  class  of  slaves,  such 
coloured  offspring,  in  order  that  the  enormity  of  the  sin  of  such 
cohabitation  may  be  brought  home,  in  a  more  lively  sense,  to  the 
minds  of  their  debased  parents. 

"  I  saw  the  Lord  sitting  upon  his  throne,  and  the  host  of  heaven 
standing  on  his  right  hand  and  on  his  left. 

"  And  the  Lord  said,  Who  will  entice  Ahab,  king  of  Israel,  that 
he  may  go  up  and  fall  at  Ramoth  Gilead  ?  And  one  spake  after 
this  manner,  and  another  saying  after  that  manner. 

"  Then  there  came  out  a  spirit,  and  stood  before  the  Lord,  and 
said,  I  will  entice  him ;  and  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  Wherewith  ? 

"  And  he  said,  I  will  go  out  and  be  a  lying  spirit  in  the  mouth 
of  all  his  prophets.  And  the  Lord  said,  Thou  shalt  entice  him." 
2  Chron.  xviii.  18-21 ;  1  Kings,  xxii.  19. 

We  wish  to  state  a  fact  which  may  not  be  generally  known  to 
the  disciples  of  Dr.  Channing :  we  speak  of  Louisiana,  where  we 
live.  Here  is  a  floating  population,  emigrants  from  all  parts  of 
the  world,  especially  from  free  countries  and  states,  nearly  or  quite 
equal  in  number  to  the  native-born  citizens  who  have  been  raised 

u 


210  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

up  and  grown  to  maturity  amid  slaves  or  as  the  owners  of  slaves. 
If  the  cohabitation  complained  of  is  at  all  indicated  by  the  mixed- 
blooded  offspring,  then  the  proof  of  this  cohabitation  will  be  far 
overbalancing  on  the  side  of  this  floating  population. 

But  again,  there  are  instances  where  an  individual  from  this 
class,  who  thus  cohabits  with  some  master's  slave,  and  has  offspring, 
and,  succeeding  in  some  business,  buys  her,  probably  with  the  in 
tention  of  emancipation ;  but,  as  he  becomes  a  proprietor  and  fixed 
citizen,  procrastination  steals  upon  him,  and  he  finds  himself  en 
thralled  by  a  coloured  family  for  life. 

Let  the  number  of  these  instances  be  compared  with  those  where 
the  delinquents  have  been  habituated,  from  the  earliest  youth,  to 
the  incidents  of  slavery,  and  the  former  class  is  found  to  be  entitled 
to  the  same  pre-eminence.  From  this  class  also  there  are  instances 
where  the  white  man,  so  cohabiting  with  the  slave  whom  he  has 
purchased  for  the  purpose  of .  emancipation,  sends  her  and  his 
offspring  to  some  free  State,  often  to  Cincinnati,  the  Moab  of  the 
South  !  "Let  mine  outcasts  dwell  with  thee,  Moab."  Isa.  xvi.  4, 

Let  such  instances  as  this  last  named  be  contrasted  with  like 
instances  emanating  from  among  the  native-born,  or  those  raised 
among  slaves,  and  the  former  class  are  still  far  in  the  majority. 
In  short,  the  fact  is  found  to  be,  that  those  who  have  been  born, 
raised,  and  educated  among  them,  and  as  the  owners  of  slaves,  are 
found  more  seldom  to  fall  into  this  cohabitation  than  those  who 
are  by  chance  among  slaves,  but  had  not  been  educated  from  youth 
among  them. 

Far  be  it  from  us  to  recriminate.  Our  object  alone,  in  present 
ing  these  facts,  is  to  show,  to  give  proof,  that  slavery  is  not  the 
cause  of  the  debasement  which  urges  the  white  man  on  to  cohabi 
tation  with  the  negro. 

We  will  ask  no  questions  as  to  the  frequency  of  such  intercourse 
in  some  of  the  large  Northern  cities,  in  which  blacks  are  numerous 
as  well  as  free,  between  them  and  the  debased  of  the  whites. 
What  if  we  should  be  told,  in  answer,  if  the  charge  were  established, 
that  such  whites  acted  from  conscience,  under  a  sense  of  the  essen 
tial  equality  of  the  negro  with  the  white  man,  and  under  the  reli 
gious  teaching  of  the  advocates  of  amalgamation ! 

He  who  writes  on  and  describes  moral  influences,  must  be  ex 
pected  to  view  them  as  he  has  been  in  the  habit  of  seeing  them 
manifested.  We  therefore  regret  exceedingly  to  see  that  Dr. 
Channing  has  made  the  assertion  that,  "to  own  the  persons  of 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  2H 

)thers,  to  hold  females  in  slavery,  is  necessarily  fatal  to  the  purity 
of  a  people ;  that  unprotected  females,  stripped  by  their  degraded 
condition  of  woman's  self-respect,  should  be  used  to  minister  to 
other  passions  in  men  than  the  love  of  gain,  is  next  to  inevitable." 
If  this  assertion  is  warranted  by  the  moral  condition  of  society 
as  displayed  before  him,  may  we  not  find  in  it  a  solution  of  the 
fact,  that  those  who  have  been  reared  up  under  all  the  influences 
of  slavery  on  the  master,  are  far  less  frequently  found  to  fall  into 
the  odious  cohabitation  with  the  negro  than  are  those  who  have 
not. 

However,  we  have  among  us  some  very  wicked  and  debased  men, 
who  own  slaves,  and  who  have  been  born  and  educated  in  the  midst 
of  the  influences  of  the  institution  of  slavery,  and  who  yet  cohabit 
with  their  female  negroes.  But  the  moral  sense  of  the  community, 
from  day  to  day  and  from  year  to  year,  more  and  more  distinctly 
gives  reproof,  more  and  more  emphatically  points  to  such  the  finger 
of  contempt  and  scorn,  and  continues  to  increase  in  energy,  ex 
pressing  its  loathing  and  abhorrence ;  and  all  this  is  taking  place 
under  the  influences  of  slavery  on  the  master.  Do  all  these  things 
give  proof  that  slavery  is  the  progenitor  of  this  debasement,  or 
the  reverse  ? 

Dr.  Channing  was  mistaken  ;  his  mind  was  in  error :  he  substi 
tuted  the  consequent  for  the  cause. 

^  We  deem  it  useless  to  spend  time  or  argument  with  those  who 
will  pertinaciously  deny  and  refuse  to  listen  to  facts,  unless  they 
shall  be  in  support  of  their  previously  conceived  views  or  preju 
dices.  We  are  aware  that  the  numerical  proportion  which  we 
have  ascribed  to  what  we  call  "  a  floating  population"  may  seem 
incredible  to  those  in  other  countries,  where  the  facts  are  quite 
different.  Yet  we  are  sure  that  such  estimate  is  within  the  truth. 
|  Here,  as  everywhere  else,  the  government,  the  legislative  power 
of  the  country,  is  in  the  hands  of  the  p,ermanent.and  more  ele 
vated  and  wealthy  classes ;  in  the  hands  of  slave-owners.  Would 
such  a  class  consent  to  laws  throwing  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
emancipation,  if  the  effect  of  such  laws  were  to  be-  expended  on 
their  own  offspring  ?  To  the  more  elevated  and  cultivated  class 
of  community  in  any  country  (and  here  such  are  all  slave-owners) 
is  to  be  ascribed  the  tone  of  moral  feeling.  Does  any  man  covet 
for  himself  the  loathing  and  scorn  of  community? 

The  family  of  the  slave-owner  is  taught  to  regard  the  negro  as 
a  race  of  man  radically  inferior,  in  moral  capacity,  in   mental 


212  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


power,  and  even  in  physical  ability,  to  the  white  man ;  that,  al 
though  he  is  susceptible  of  improvement  in  all  these  things,  and 
even  does  improve  in  the  state  of  slavery  to  the  white  man,  yet 
that  it  would  require  untold  generations  to  elevate  him  and  his 
race  to  the  present  standing  of  the  white  races. 

The  child,  the  mere  youth,  and  those  of  more  experience,  see 
proofs  of  these  facts  in  every  comparison.  The  master  feels  them 
to  be  true,  and  is  taught,  that,  while  he  governs  with  compassion, 
forbearance,  and  mercy,  and  as  having  regard  to  their  improve 
ment,  any  familiarity  on  terms  of  equality,  beyond  that  of  com 
mand  on  his  side,  and  obedience  on  theirs,  is,  and  must  be,  disgrace 
to  him.  He  is  taught  to  consider  the  negro  race,  from  some 
cause,  to  have  deteriorated  to  such  extent  that  his  safety  and  hap 
piness  demand  the  control  of  a  superior;  he  regards  him  as  a 
man,  entitled  to  receive  the  protection  of  such  control ;  and  that 
he,  like  every  other  man,  will  be  called  to  account  unto  God,  ac 
cording  to  the  talents  God  has  given  him.  He  is  taught,  by  every 
hour's  experience,  to  know  that  slavery  to  the  negro  is  a  blessing. 
He  is  taught  to  feel  it  a  duty  to  teach,  as  he  would  an  inferior, 
the  negro  his  moral  duty,  his  obligations  to  God,  the  religion  of 
the  Bible,  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

But  the  man  born  and  educated  in  the  Free  States  is  taught 
that  "  he  who  cannot  see  a  brother,  a  child  of  God,  a  man  pos 
sessing  all  the  rights  of  humanity,  under  a  skin  darker  than  his 
own,  wants  the  vision  of  a  Christian."  Channing,  vol.  ii.  p.  14. 
"To  recognise  as  brethren  those  who  want  all  outward  distinctions, 
is  the  chief  way  in  which  we  are  to  manifest  the  spirit  of  him  who 
came  to  raise  the  fallen  and  save  the  lost."  Ibidem.^ 

Vol.  ii.  pp.  20,  21,  22,  he  says — "  Another  argument  against 
property  (in  slaves)  is  to  be  found  in  the  essential  equality  of  men." 
*  *  *  "  Nature  indeed  pays  no  heed  to  birth  or  condition 
in  bestowing  her  favours.  The  noblest  spirits  sometimes  grow  up 
in  the  obscurest  spheres.  Thus  equal  are  men  ; — and  among  these 
equals,  who  can  substantiate  his  claim  to  make  others  his  property, 
his  tools,  the  mere  instruments  of  his  private  interest  and  gratifi 
cation?"  *  *  '  *  "Is  it  sure  that  the  slave,  or  the  slave's 
child,  may  not  surpass  his  master  in  intellectual  energy,  or  in  moral 
worth  ?  Has  nature  conferred  distinctions,  which  tell  us  plainly 
who  shall  be  owners  and  who  shall  be  owned  ?  Who  of  us  can 
unblushingly  lift  up  his  head  and  say  that  God  has  written 
; master'  there?  Or  who  can  show  the  word  l slave'  engraven 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  213 

on  his  brother's  brow  ?     The  equality  of  nature  makes  slavery  a 
wrong." 

May  we  aid  the  disciples  of  Dr.  Channing  by  referring  them  to 
Prov.  xvii.  2,  "  A  wise  servant  ("13#  ebed,  slave)  shall  have  rule 
over  a  son  that  causeth  shame,  and  shall  have  part  of  the  inherit 
ance  among  the  brethren?"  And  will  the  doctor  and  his  disciples 
believe  the  proverb  any  the  more  true,  when  we  inform  them  that 
it  is  a  matter  of  frequent  occurrence  in  slave-holding  communities. 
Vol.  v.  p.  89,  90,  he  says — "  But  we  have  not  yet  touched  the 
great  cause  of  the  conflagration  of  the  Hall  of  Freedom.  Some 
thing  worse  than  fanaticism  or  separation  of  the  Union  was  the 
impulse  to  this  violence.  We  are  told  that  white  people  and  black 
sat  together  on  the  benches  of  the  hall,  and  were  even  seen  walk 
ing  together  in  the  streets !  This  was  the  unheard-of  atrocity 
which  the  virtues  of  the  people  of  Philadelphia  could  not  endure. 
They  might  have  borne  the  dissolution  of  the  national  tie ;  but 
this  junction  of  black  and  white  was  too  much  for  human  patience 
to  sustain.  And  has  it  indeed  come  to  this  ?  For  such  a  cause 
are  mobs  and  fires  to  be  let  loose  on  our  persons  and  most  costly 
buildings  ?  What !  Has  not  an  American  citizen  a  right  to  sit 
and  walk  with  whom  he  will  ?  Is  this  common  privilege  denied 
us  ?  Is  society  authorized  to  choose  our  associates  ?  Must  our 
neighbour's  tastes  as  to  friendship  and  companionship  control  our 
own  ?  Have  the  feudal  times  come  back  to  us,  when  to  break  the 
law  of  caste  was  a  greater  crime  than  to  violate  the  laws  of  God  ? 
What  must  Europe  have  thought,  when  the  news  crossed  the  ocean 
of  the  burning  of  the  Hall  of  Freedom,  because  white  and  coloured 
people  walked  together  in  the  streets  ? 

"  Europe  might  well  open  its  eyes  in  wonder.  On  that  conti 
nent,  with  all  its  aristocracy,  the  coloured  man  mixes  freely  with 
his  fellow-creatures.  He  sometimes  receives  the  countenance  of 
the  rich,  and  has  even  found  his  way  into  the  palaces  of  the  great. 
In  Europe,  the  doctrine  would  be  thought  to  be  too  absurd  for  refu 
tation,  that  a  coloured  man  of  pure  morals  and  piety,  of  cultivated 
intellect  and  refined  manners,  was  not  a  fit  companion  for  the  best 
in  the  land.  What  must  Europe  have  said,  when  brought  to  un 
derstand  that,  in  a  republic,  founded  on  the  principles  of  human 
rights  and  equality,  people  are  placed  beyond  the  laws  for  treating 
the  African  as  a  man.  This  Philadelphia  doctrine  deserves  no 
mercy.  What  an  insult  is  thrown  on  human  nature,  in  making  it 
a  heinous  crime  to  sit  or  walk  with  a  human  being,  whoever  it  may 


214  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

be  ?  It  just  occurs  to  me,  that  I  have  forgotten  the  circumstance 
which  filled  to  overflowing  the  cup  of  abolitionist  wickedness  in 
Philadelphia.  The  great  offence  was  this,  that  certain  young 
women  of  anti-slavery  faith  were  seen  to  walk  the  streets  with 
coloured  young  men !" 

Such  are  the  lessons  taught  the  youth  as  well  as  the  aged  of  the 
Free  States,  even  by  Dr.  Channing  himself.  We  now  ask,  under 
the  teachings  of  which  school  will  the  pupils  be  the  best  prepared 
for  this  cohabitation  with  the  negro  ? 

The  burning  of  the  Hall  of  Freedom  was,  no  doubt,  a  very 
great  outrage,  well  meriting  severe  condemnation.  Yet  we  cannot 
but  notice,  that  Dr.  Channing  has  nowhere,  in  all  his  works,  said 
one  word  about  the  burning  of  the  Convent  on  Mount  Benedict, 
by  his  own  townsmen,  the  good  people  of  Boston. 

We  care  not  with  what  severity  he  punishes  such  outrages.  But 
it  is  the  influence  of  his  lesson  in  palliating  the  familiarity,  and 
mitigating  the  evil  consequences  of  a  coalition  of  the  white  man 
with  the  negro,  that  we  present  to  view.  It  is  with  grief  that  we 
find  him  infusing  into  his  disciples  this  nauseating,  disgusting, 
moral  poison ;  preparing  their  minds  to  feel  little  or  no  shame  in  a 
cohabitation  with  the  negro,  so  degrading  to  the  white  man,  and  so 
disgraceful  in  all  Slave  States.  Yea  further,  what  are  we  to  think 
of  the  judgment,  of  the  taste, — may  we  not  add,  habits,  of  a 
man  who  could  unblushingly  publish  to  the  world  his  partiality  to 
the  negro  of  Jamaica,  after  his  visit  there,  as  follows : 

"I  saw  too,  on  the  plantation  where  I  resided,  a  gracefulness 
and  dignity  of  form  and  motion,  rare  in  my  own  native  New  Eng 
land."  Vol.  vi.  p.  51. 

Again,  page  52.  "  The  African  countenance  seldom  shows  that 
coarse,  brutal  sensuality  which  is  so  common  in  the  face  of  the 
white  man." 

May  we  be  pardoned  for  feeling  a  strong  desire, — rather,  a  cu 
riosity, — to  be  made  acquainted  with  the  faces  of  the  white  men 
with  whom  he  was  the  most  familiar ! 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  215 


LESSON  VIII. 
/ 

IN  vol.  ii.  page  82,  tor.  Charming  says—^ 

"  I  cannot  leave  the  subject  of  the  evils  of  slavery,  without  say 
ing  a  word  of  its  political  influence." 

He  considers  that  "slave  labour  is  less  productive  than  free." 
This  is  doubtless  true ;  and  if  so,  it  proves  that  the  master  of  the 
slave  does  not  require  of  him  so  much  labour  as  is  required  of  a 
hired  labourer.  Are  the  friends  of  abolition  angry,  because,  in 
their  sympathy  for  the  slave,  they  have  found  something  to  be 
pleased  with  ? 

[He  considers  that  "  by  degrading  the  labouring  population  to  a 
state  which  takes  from  them  motives  to  toil,  and  renders  them  ob 
jects  of  suspicion  or  dread,"  impairs  "the  ability  of  a  community 
to  unfold  its  resources  in  peace,  and  to  defend  itself  in  war." 

This  proposition  includes  the  idea  that  the  Slave  States  have  de 
graded  a  portion  of  their  citizens  to  a  state  of  slavery.  This  is 
not  true.  Our  ancestors,  contrary  to  their  will,  were  forced  to  re 
ceive  a  degraded  race  among  them,  not  as  citizens,  but  slaves ; — 
and  does  it  follow  now,  that  we  must  again  be  forced  to  make  this 
degraded  race  our  political  equals  ?  Even  the  British  Government, 
with  all  its  claim  to  sovereign  rule,  never  dreamed  of  imposing  on 
us  a  demand  so  destructive  to  our  political  rights ;  so  blighting  to 
social  happiness  ;  so  annihilating  to  our  freedom  as  men  ;  so  extin 
guishing  to  our  very  race.  Do  the  friends  of  abolition  deem  us  so 
stupid  as  not  to  see,  if,  even  when  the  negro  is  in  slavery,  cases  of 
amalgamation  happen,  that,  when  he  shall  be  elevated  to  political 
freedom,  the  country  would,  by  their  aid,  be  overspread  by  it?  Do 
they  think  that  we  do  not  see  that  such  a  state  of  things  is  de 
generacy,  degradation,  ruin,  worse  than  death  to  the  white  men  ? 
And  will  they  chide,  if,  in  its  prevention,  we  drench  our  fields  in 
our  own  blood  in  preference  ?  The  British  Government  urged  the 
race  here  as  an  article  of  property,  of  commerce  and  profit,  as 
they  did  their  tea.  They  stipulated,  they  guaranteed  them  to  be 
slaves,  they  and  their  posterity  for  ever — not  citizens  I  On  such 
terms  alone  could  they  have  been  received.  The  South  then,  as 
now,  to  a  man  would  have  met  death  on  the  battle-field,  sooner 
than  have  suffered  their  presence  on  other  conditions-J 


216  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

The  British  governmental  councils,  our  colonial  assemblies,  our 
primitive  inquiring  conventions  never  viewed  them  in  any  other 
light.  It  was  not  on  their  account  we  sought  for  freedom.  It  was 
not  in  their  behalf  we  fought  for  liberty.  It  was  not  for  them  our 
blood  ran  like  water.  It  was  not  to  establish  for  them  political 
rights  we  broke  the  British  yoke,  or  founded  here  this  great  go 
vernment.  Our  national  synods  recognised  them  only  as  property ; 
our  constitutional  charter,  only  as  slaves ;  our  congressional  sta 
tutes,  only  as  the  subjects  of  their  masters. 

There  is  falsity  in  the  very  language  that  frames  the  proposition 
which  inculcates  that  these  slaves  are  a  portion  of  population  that 
ever  can  be  justly  entitled  to  equal  political  rights,  or  that  they 
are,  or  ever  were,  degraded  by  the  community  among  whom  they 
are  now  found. 

So  degraded,  both  mentally  and  physically,  is  the  African  in 
his  own  native  wilds,  that,  however  humiliating  to  a  freeman 
slavery  may  seem,  to  him  it  is  an  elevated  school ;  and  however 
dull  and  stupid  may  be  his  scholarship,  yet  a  few  generations  dis 
tinctly  mark  some  little  improvement.  We  cannot  doubt,  some  few 
individuals  of  this  race  have  been  so  far  elevated  in  their  consti 
tutional  propensities  that  they  might  be  well  expected  to  make 
provident  citizens ;  and  the  fact  is,  such  generally  become  free, 
without  the  aid  of  fanaticism.  But  what  is  the  value  of  a  general 
assertion  predicated  alone  upon  a  few  exceptions  ?  Some  few  of 
our  own  race  give  ample  proof  that  they  are  not  fit  to  take  care 
of  themselves :  shall  we,  therefore,  subject  our  whole  race  to 
pupilage  ? 

That  such  a  population,  such  a  race  of  men,  is  as  conducive 
to  national  grandeur,  either  as  to  resources  or  defence,  as  the  same 
number  of  intellectual,  high-minded  yeomanry  of  our  own  race 
might  be  well  expected  to  be,  perhaps  few  contend ;  and  we  pray 
you  not  to  force  us  to  try  the  experiment.  But  if  such  weakness 
attend  the  position  in  which  we  feel  God  has  placed  us,  why  dis 
tress  us  by  its  distortion  ?  Why  torment  our  wound  with  your 
inexperienced,  and  therefore  unskilful  hand  ?  Why  strive  ye  to 
enrage  our  passions,  by  constantly  twitting  us  with  what  is  not  our 
fault  ?  Do  you  indeed  wish  to  destroy,  because  you  have  no  power 
to  amend  ?  Why,  then,  your  inexperience  as  to  facts,  aided  by  mis 
representation  and  sophistry  in  the  digestion  of  language  and  sen 
timent, — and  we  exceedingly  regret  that  we  can  correctly  say, 
open  falsehood, — as  found  on  pages  86,  87  ? — 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


217 


"  Slavery  is  a  strange  element  to  mix  up  with  free  institutions. 
It  cannot  but  endanger  them.     It  is  a  pattern  for  every  kind  of 
wrong.     The  slave  brings  insecurity  on  the  free.     Whoever  holds 
one  human  being  in  bondage,  invites  others  to  plant  the  foot  on 
his  own  neck.     Thanks  to  God,   not   one  human  being  can  be 
wronged  with  impunity.     The  liberties  of  a  people  ought  to  trem 
ble,  until  every  man  is  free.    Tremble  they  will.    Their  true  founda 
tion  is  sapped  by  the  legalized   degradation  of  a  single  innocent 
man  to  slavery.     That  foundation  is  impartial  justice,  is  respect 
for  human  nature,  is  respect  for  the  rights  of  every  human  being. 
I  have  endeavoured  in  these  remarks  to  show  the  hostility  between 
slavery  and   'free  institutions.'     If,  however,  I  err;  if  these  in 
stitutions  cannot  stand  without  slavery  for  their  foundation,  then  I 
say,  let  them  fall.     Then  they  ought  to  be  buried  in  perpetual 
ruins.     Then  the  name  of  republicanism  ought  to  become  a  by- word 
and  reproach  among  the  nations.     Then  monarchy,  limited  as  it  is 
in  England,  is  incomparably  better  and  happier  than  our  more 
popular  forms.     Then,  despotism,  as  it  exists  in  Prussia,  where 
equal  laws  are  in  the  main  administered  with  impartiality,  ought 
to  be  preferred.     A  republican  government,  bought  by  the  sacrifice 
of  half,  or  more  than  half  of  a  people,  stripping  them  of  their 
most  sacred  rights,  by  degrading  them  to  a  brutal  condition,  would 
cost  too  much.     A  freedom  so  tainted  with  wrong  ought  to  be  our 
abhorrence." 

Let  not  the  looseness  of  the  doctor's  regard  for  the  Union  sur 
prise.  With  him  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  had  become  a  fixed 
idea.  On  pages  237  and  238,  he  says— 

"  To  me  it  seems  not  only  the  right,  but  the  duty  of  the  Free 
States,  in  case  of  the  annexation  of  Texas,  to  say  to  the  Slave- 
holding  States,  <  We  regard  this  act  as  the  dissolution  of  the  Union.' 
A  pacific  division  in  the  first  instance  seems  to  me  to 
threaten  less  contention  than  a  lingering,  feverish  dissolution  of 
the  Union,  such  as  must  be  expected  under  this  fatal  innovation. 
For  one,  then,  I  say,  that,  earnestly  as  I  deprecate  the  separation 
of  these  States,  and  though  this  event  would  disappoint  most 
cherished  hopes  for  my  country,  still  I  could  submit  to  it  more 
readily  than  to  the  reception  of  Texas  into  the  confederacy."  "I 
do  not  desire  to  share  the  responsibility  or  to  live  under  the  laws 
of  a  government  adopting  such  a  policy."  *  *  *  "If  the 
South  is  bent  on  incorporating  Texas  with  itself,  as  a  new  prop  to. 
slavery,  it  would  do  well  to  insist  on  a  division  of  the  States.  It 


218  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

would,  in  so  doing,  consult  best  its  own  safety.  It  should  studi 
ously  keep  itself  from  communion  with  the  free  part  of  the  country. 
It  should  suffer  no  railroad  from  that  section  to  cross  its  borders.  It 
should  block  up  intercourse  with  us  by  sea  and  land."  Vol.  ii.  p.  239. 

We  do  not  quote  these  passages  for  the  sake  of  refuting  them. 
"  In  Europe,  the  doctrine  ivould  be  thought  too  absurd  for  refuta 
tion."  "  What  must  Europe  have  thought  when'  these  sentiments 
"  crossed  the  ocean ."  *  *  *  "  Wliat  must  Europe  have  said, 
tvhen  brought  to  understand  that,  in  a  republic  founded  on  the 
principles  of  human  rights  and  equality," — and  this  writer  acknow 
ledges  the  doctrine  that  "the  constitution  was  a  compromise 
among  independent  States,  and  it  is  well  known  that  geographical 
relations  and  the  local  interest  were  among  the  essential  conditions 
on  which  the  compromise  was  made;"  and  concerning  which,  he 
adds,  "  Was  not  the  constitution  founded  on  conditions  or  con 
siderations  which  are  even  more  authoritative  than  its  particular 
provisions?"  (see  vol.  ii.  p.  237,) — "  What  must  Europe  have  said," 
when  informed  that  these  sentiments  were  expressed  against  the 
right  of  the  South  to  hold  slaves  ?  Slaves,  whom  she,  herself,  in 
our  childhood,  had  sold  us  ?  Why,  she  must  have  thought  that  we 
were  on  the  eve  of  a  civil  war,  and  that  Dr.  Channing  was  about 
to  take  command  of  an  army  of  abolitionists  to  compel  the  South 
to  submit  to  his  terms!  "Europe  might  well  open  its  eyes  in 
wonder"  at  such  extravagance. 

"Such,"  says  our  author,  are  "the  chief  evils  of  slavery;"  and 
we  are  willing  to  leave  it  to  "Europe"  to  decide  whether  he  has 
not  furnished  us  with  declamation  instead  of  argument. 

Under  the  head,  "Evils  of  Slavery,"  he  examines  those  con 
siderations  that  have  been  urged  in  its  favour,  or  in  mitigation, 
which  we  deem  unnecessary  to  notice  further  than  to  note  a  few 
passages  in  which  there  is  between  us  some  unity  of  sentiment. 

Page  89.  "Freedom  undoubtedly  has  its  perils.  It  offers  no 
thing  to  the  slothful  and  dissolute.  Among  a  people  left  to  seek 
their  own  good  in  their  own  way,  some  of  all  classes  fail  from 
vice,  some  from  incapacity,  some  from  misfortune." 

Page  92.  "  Were  we  to  visit  a  slave-country,  undoubtedly  the 
most  miserable  human  beings  would  be  found  among  the  free ;  for 
among  them  the  passions  have  a  wider  sweep,  and  the  power  they 
possess  may  be  used  to  their  own  ruin.  Liberty  is  not  a  necessity 
of  happiness.  It  is  only  a  means  of  good.  It  is  a  trust  that  may 
be  abused." 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


Page  93.  "  Of  all  races  of  men,  the  African  is  the  mildest 
and  most  susceptible  of  attachment.  He  loves  where  the  Euro 
pean  would  hate.  He  watches  the  life  of  a  master,  whom  the 
North  American  Indian,  in  like  circumstances,  would  stab  to  the 
heart." 

The  African  may  exhibit  mildness  and  attachment  in  slavery 
when  others  would  exhibit  a  reverse  feeling ;  but  it  is  not  true 
that  he  exhibits  these  qualities  as  a  fixed  moral  principle,  resulting 
from  intellectual  conclusion. 

Page  95.  "No  institution,  be  it  what  it  may,  can  make  the  life 
of  a  human  being  wholly  evil,  or  cut  off  every  means  of  improve 
ment."  Idem.  "The  African  is  so  affectionate,  imitative,  and  do 
cile,  that,  in  favourable  circumstances,  he  catches  much  that  is  good; 
and  accordingly  the  influence  of  a  wise  and  kind  master  will  be 
seen  in  the  very  countenance  and  bearing  of  his  slaves."  Or, 
rather,  we  find  traces  of  these  qualities  developed  among  th*eir  de 
scendants.  But  the  truth  is  far  below  this  description. 

We  had  expected  to  have  received  light  and  pleasure  from  the 
examination  of  Dr.  Channing's  view  of  slavery  in  a  political  atti 
tude.  We  confess  we  are  disappointed.  His  political  view  of  it 
is,  at  least,  jejune.  To  us,  it  suggests  the  superior  adaptation  of 
his  genius  and  education  to  the  rhapsody  of  a  prayer-meeting  than 
to  the  labours  of  a  legislative  hall.  We  doubt  much  whether  he 
had  ever  arrived  to  any  very  clear  and  general  view  of  the  organ 
ization  of  society.  Finding,  under  this  head,  very  little  in  his 
volumes  that  a  politician  can  descend  to  encounter,  we  shall  close 
our  present  Lesson  with  a  very  few  remarks. 

I  Capital  and  labour  can  exist  in  but  two  relations ;  congenerous 
or  antagonistic.     They  are  never  congenerous  only  when  it  is  true 
that  labour  constitutes   capital,  which  can  only  happen  through 
slavery.     The  deduction  is  then  clear,  that  capital  for  ever  governs 
labour ;  and  the  deduction  is  also  as  clear,  that,  out  of  slavery 
capital  and  labour  must  be  for  ever  antagonistic.     But,  again 
capital  governs  labour,  because,  while  capital  now  exists,  labour  can 
possess  it  only  by  its  own  consumption.     But  when  the  two  are 
congenerous,  labour,  as  a  tool,  is  not  urged  to  its  injury,  because 
the  tool  itself  is  capital ;  but  when  antagonistic,  the  tool  is  urged 
to  its  utmost  power,  because  its  injury,  its  ruin  touches  not  the 
capital.     Hence,  we  often  hear  slave-labour  is  the  less  productive. 
The  proposition  is  not  affected  by  facts  attending  him  who  is  said 


220  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

to  be  free,  but  who  only  labours  for  his  individual  support ;  because 
^nile  he  adds  nothing  to  the  general  stock  of  capital,  he  yet  falls 
within  the  catalogue  of  being  a  slave  to  himself:  "The  Lord  sent 

him  forth  to  till  the  ground,"  ("lhjP.7  la  evod,  to  slave  the  ground;) 
to  do  slave-labour  for  his  own  support ;  to  slave  himself  for  his  own 
subsistence. 

Such  is  the  first  degree  of  slavery  to  which  sin  has  subjected  all 
mankind.  Therefore,  in  such  case,  labour  is  capital.  But  the 
very  moment  a  lower  degradation  forces  him  to  sell  his  labour, 
capital  is  the  only  purchaser,  and  they  at  once  become  antagonistic. 
On  the  one  hand,  labour  is  seeking  for  all ;  on  the  other,  capital  is 
seeking  for  all.  But  the  capital  governs,  and  always  obtains  the 
mastery,  and  reduces  labour  down  to  the  smallest  pittance.  Thus 
antagonistic  are  capital  and  labour,  that  the  former  is  for  ever 
trying,  to  lessen  the  value  of  the  other  by  art,  by  machinery  ;  thus 
converting  the  tool  of  labour  into  capital  itself.  The  political  dif 
ference  between  the  influence  of  these  two  relations,  capital  and 
labour,  is  very  great.  We  feel  surprised  that  the  sympathies  of 
the  abolitionists  are  not  changed,  from  the  miseries  where  capital 
and  labour  are  decidedly  congenerous,  to  a  consideration  of  that 
morass  of  misery  into  which  the  worn-out,  broken  tools  of  labour 
are  thrown,  with  cruel  heartlessness,  where  capital  and  labour  are 
antagonistic. 

.  Under  the  one  system,  beggars  and  distress  from  want  are  un 
known,  because  such  things  cannot  exist  under  such  an  organiza 
tion  of  society.  But,  under  the  other,  pauperism  becomes  a  lead 
ing  element.  The  history  of  that  class  of  community,  in  all  free 
countries,  is  a  monument  and  record  of  free  labour. J 

We  ask  the  politician  to  consider  these  facts,  while  he  searches 
the  history  of  man  for  light  in  the  inquiry  of  what  is  the  most 
tranquil,  and,  in  all  its  parts,  the  most  happy  organization  of  society. 

Under  the  head  of  "The  Political  Influence  of  Slavery,"  Dr. 
Channing  has  taken  occasion  to  inform  us  of  his  feelings  as  to  the 
stability  of  this  Union ;  that  he  prefers  its  dissolution  to  the  per 
petuation  of  slavery;  and  that  he  proposes  a  "pacific  division." 
And  what  is  his  "pacific  division?"  Why,  he  says,  (if  we  must 
repeat  it,)  "  the  South  must  studiously  keep  itself  from  communion 
with  the  Free  States  ;  to  suffer  no  railroad  from  the  Free  States 
to  cross  its  border ;  and  to  block  up  all  intercourse  by  sea  and 
land!"  Why,  it  is  "death  in  the  pot !" 

0   most  unhappy  man !    the  most  unfortunate  of  all,  to  have 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  221 

left  such  a  record  of  intellectual  weakness  and  folly  behind  !     But 
we  will  forbear. 

We  think  Dr.  Channing's  declarations  and  proposals  wholly  un 
called  for.  We  regret  the  existence  of  such  feelings  at  the  North. 
We  say  feelings,  because  we  are  bold  to  say,  such  sentiments  are 
alone  the  offspring  of  the  most  ignorant,  wicked,  and  black 
hearted  feelings  of  the  human  soul.  Their  very  existence  shows  a 
preparedness  to  commit  treason,  perjury,  and  the  murders  of  civil 
war !  The  disciples  of  Dr.  Channing,  on  the  subject  of  abolitionism, 
may  be  too  stupid  to  perceive  it ;  for  "  Evil  men  understand  not 
judgment."  Prov.  xxviii.  5. 

We  regret  this  feeling  at  the  North  the  more  deeply  on  the 
account  of  the  extraordinary  generant  quality  of  sin.  For  it  pro 
pagates,  not  only  its  peculiar  kind,  but  every  monster,  in  every 
shape,  by  the  mere  echo  of  its  voice  !  Will  they  remember,  «  He 
that  diggeth  a  pit  shall  fall  into  it;  and  whoso  breaketh  a  hedge, 
a  serpent  shall  bite  him."  Or,  that,  "It  is  an  honour  to  cease 
from  strife:  but  every  fool  will  be  meddling."  Prov.  But  since 
such  feelings  do  exist,  we  feel  thankful  to  God  that  the  sin  of  the 
initiative  in  the  dissolution  of  this  Union  is  not  with  the  Slave 
States.  We  know  there  are  many  good  men  in  the  North.  Much 
depends  on  what  they  may  do.  We  believe  the  union  of  these 
States  need  not—will  not  be  disrupted. 

But  if  the  laws  of  Congress  can  neither  be  executed  nor  con 
tinued,  nor  oaths  to  be  true  to  the  constitution  longer  bind  these 
maniacs,  the  issue  will  finally  be  left  in  the  hand  of  the  God  of 
battles!  It  becomes  the  South  to  act  wisely,  to  be  calm,  and  to 
hope  as  long  as  there  can  be  hope.  And  to  the  North,  let  them 
say  now,  before  it  be  too  late,  "We  pray  you  to  forbear.  We  en 
treat  you  to  be  true  to  your  oaths,  and  not  force  us,  in  hostile 
array,  to  bathe  our  hands  in  blood." 

But,  if  the  term  of  our  great  national  destiny  is  to  be  closed, 
and  war,  the  most  cruel  of  all  wars,  is  to  spread  far  beyond  the 
reach  of  human  foresight,— the  South,  like  Abraham  in  olden  time, 
"arm  their  trained  servants,"  and  go  out  to  the  war,  SHOUT 
ING  UNDER  THE  BANNER  OF  THE  ALMIGHTY  ! 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


LESSON  IX. 

As  a  fifth  proposition^  Dr.  Charming  says — "  I  shall  consider 
the  argument  which  the  Scriptures  are  thought  to  furnish  in  favour 
of  slavery." 

In  the  course  of  these  studies,  we  have  often  had  occasion  to 
refer  to  the  Scripture  in  our  support.  We  have  shown  that  even  the 
Decalogue  gave  rules  in  regulation  of  the  treatment  of  slaves ;  that 
commands  from  the  mouth  of  God  himself  were  delivered  to  Abra 
ham  concerning  his  slaves  ;  that  the  Almighty  from  Sinai  delivered 
to  Moses  laws,  directing  him  whom  they  might  have  as  slaves, — 
slaves  forever,  and  to  be  inherited  by  their  children  after  them ; 
rules  directing  the  government  and  treatment  of  slaves,  who  had 
become  such  under  different  circumstances.  We  have  adverted  to 
the  spirit  of  prophecy  on  the  subject  of  the  providence  of  God 
touching  the  matter,  to  the  illustrations  of  our  Saviour,  and  the 
lessons  of  the  apostles.  Others  have  done  the  same  before  us. 
But  Dr.  Channing  says,  page  99 — "  In  this  age  of  the  world,  and 
amid  the  light  which  has  been  thrown  on  the  true  interpretation 
of  the  Scriptures,  such  reasoning  hardly  deserves  notice." 

Had  Tom  Paine  been  an  abolitionist,  he  could  scarcely  have  said 
more  !  He  continues — "  A  few  words  only  will  be  offered  in  reply. 
This  reasoning  proves  too  much.  If  usages  sanctioned  in  the  Old 
Testament,  and  not  forbidden  in  the  New,  are  right,  then  our  moral 
code  will  undergo  a  sad  deterioration.  Polygamy  was  allowed  to 
the  Israelites,  was  the  practice  of  the  holiest  men,  and  was  com 
mon  and  licensed  in  the  age  of  the  apostles.  *  *  Why  may 
not  Scripture  be  used  to  stock  our  houses  with  wives  as  well  as 
slaves." 

We  know  not  what  new  light  has  come  to  this  age  of  the  world, 
enabling  it  to  interpret  the  Scriptures  more  accurately  than  is  af 
forded  by  tht  language  of  the  Scriptures  themselves.  Whatever 
it  may  be,  we  shall  not  deprive  Dr.  Channing  nor  his  disciples  of 
its  entire  benefit,  by  the  appropriation  of  its  use  to  ourselves ;  and 
therefore  we  shall  proceed  to  examine  his  position,  by  interpreting 
the  Scriptures  in  the  old-fashioned  way — understanding  them  to 
mean  what  they  say. 


STUDIES   ON  SLAVERY.  223 

The  first  instance  the  idea  is  brought  to  view  which  we  express 
by  the  term  wife,  is  found  in  Gen.  ii.  20  :  "  There  was  not  found 
&  help  meet  for  him."  The  original  is  1*1^5  *tt#  NVD'^S  not 
found,  discovered,  help,  aid,  or  assistance,  flowing,  'proceeding,  at,  to, 
or  for  him.  Let  it  be  noticed  that  the  idea  is  in  the  singular.  The 
word  ishsha,  used  to  mean  one  woman,  or  wife,  is  so  distinctly 
singular,  that  it  sometimes  demands  to  be  translated  by  the  word 
one,  as  we  shall  hereafter  find. 

Same  chapter,  verse  22:  "Made  he  a  woman"  fttPN,  ishsha, 
woman,  wife. 


Ver.  23  :  "  Shall  be  called  woman,"  ntTN  ishsha,  woman,  wife. 

Ver.  24  :  "  Therefore  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and  his  mother, 
and  cleave  unto  his  wife,"  1fJt?>K  islito,  Ms  wife,  his  woman,  "and 
they  shall  be  one  flesh." 

Ver.  25:  "  The  man  and  his  wife,"  ifiJTN  ishto,  wife,  woman. 

These  terms  are  all  in  the  singular  number.  We  propose  for  con 
sideration,  how  far  these  passages  are  to  be  understood  as  a  law 
and  rule  of  action  among  men. 

Gen.  vii.  7:  "And  Noah  went  in,  and  his  sons,  and  his  wife, 
and  his  sons'  wives  with  him,  into  the  ark." 

Ver.  9:  "There  went  in  two  and  two  unto  Noah  into  the  ark, 
the  male  and  female,  as  God  had  commanded  Noah." 

We  propose  also  for  consideration,  how  far  these  passages  are  an 
indication  of  the  law  of  God,  and  his  providence,  as  bearing  on 
polygamy. 

Exod.  xx.  17  (18th  ver.  of  the  Hebrew  text)  :  "  Thou  shalt  not 
covet  thy  neighbour's  wife,"  niP'N  esheth,  in  the  construct  state, 
showing  that  she  was  appropriated"1  to  the  neighbour  in  the  singular 
number.  If  the  passage  had  read,  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy 
neighbour's  wives,  or  any  of  them,  the  interpretation  must  have 
been  quite  different. 

So  also  Deut.v.  21  :  "Neither  shalt  thou  desire  thy  neighbour's 
wife,"  n$X  esheth. 


The  twenty-second  chapter  of  Deuteronomy  relates  the  law 
concerning  a  portion  of  the  relations  incident  to  a  married  state; 
but  we  find  the  idea  always  advanced  in  the  singular  number. 
There  was  no  direction  concerning  his  wives.  Had  the  decalogue 
announced,  "  Thou  shalt  have  but  one  wife,"  the  language  of  these 
explanations  and  directions,  to  be  in  unison  therewith,  need  not 
have  been  changed. 


224  STUDIES   ON   SLAVEKY. 


The  subject  is  continued  through  the  first  five  verses  of  the 
twenty-fourth  chapter,  but  we  find  the  idea  wife  still  expressed  in 
the  same  careful  language,  conveying  the  idea,  as  appropriated  to 
one  man,  in  the  person  of  one  female  only.  The  term  "  new  wife," 
here. used,  does  not  imply  that  she  is  an  addition  to  others  in  like 
condition,  but  that  her  condition  of  being  a  wife  is  new,  as  is 
most  clearly  shown  by  the  word  Jlb^n  hadasha,  from  which  it  is 
translated.  The  sentiment  or  condition  explained  in  this  passage 
is  illustrated  by  our  Saviour  in  Luke  xiv.  20  :  "I  have  married  a 
wife,  and  therefore  I  cannot  come," — that  is,  until  the  expiration 
of  the  year, — having  reference  to  this  very  passage  in  Deutero 
nomy  for  authority.  But  this  passage  is  made  very  plain  by  a 
direct  command  of  God  :  see  Deut.  xx.  7  :  "And  what  man  is  there 
that  hath  betrothed  a  wife,  and  hath  not  taken  her  ?  Let  him  go 
and  return  unto  his  house,  lest  he  die  in  the  battle,  and  another 
man  take  her." 

But  the  institution  of  marriage  was  established,  before  the  fall 
of  man,  by  the  appropriation  of  one  woman  to  one  man.  Now, 
that  this  fact,  this  example,  stands  as  a  command,  is  clear  from 
the  words  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  Matt.  xix.  4,  5 :  "  And  he  answered 
and  said,  Have  ye  not  read,  that  he  which  made  them  at  the  begin 
ning,  made  them  male  and  female,  and  said,  For  this  cause  shall 
a  man  leave  father  and  mother  and  shall  cleave  unto  his  wife ; 
and  they  twain  shall  be  one  flesh  ?  Wherefore,  they  are  no  more 
twain,  but  one  flesh." 

We  trust,  "at  this  age  of  the  world,"  there  is  a  sufficiency  of 
light,  among  even  the  most  unlearned  of  us,  whereby  we  shall  be 
enabled  to  interpret  these  scriptures,  not  to  license  polygamy,  but 
to  discountenance  and  forbid  it,  by  showing  that  they  teach  a  con 
trary  doctrine.  But,  perhaps,  the  explanation  is  more  decided  in 
Mark  x.  8-11  :  "And  they  twain  shall  be  one  flesh  :  so  then  they 
are  no  more  twain,  but  one  flesh."  "And  he  saith  unto  them, 
whoever  shall  put  away  his  wife,  and  marry  another,  committeth 
adultery  against  her." 

Surely,  if  a  man  commit  adultery  by  marrying  the  second  when 
he  has  turned  off  the  previous,  it  may  be  a  stronger  case  of 
adultery  to  marry  a  second  wife  without  turning  off  the  first  one  ! 

We  think  St.  Paul  interprets  the  Scriptures,  in  the  old-fashioned 
way,  JEph.  v.  31  :  "For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and 
mother,  and  shall  be  joined  unto  his  wife,  and  they  two  shall  bo 
one  flesh*' 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  225 

See  1  Cor.  vi.  16-18  :  "  What !  know  ye  not  that  he  which  is 
joined  to  a  harlot  is  one  body  ?  For  two,  saith  he,  shall  be  on^ 
flesh.  Flee  fornication."  And  further,  the  deductions  that  St. 
Paul  made  from  these  teachings  are  plainly  drawn  out  in  his  les 
sons  to  Timothy  :  "  If  a  man  desire  the  office  of  bishop,  he  de- 
sireth  a  good  work.  A  bishop  then  must  be  blameless,  the  husband 
of  one  wife."  "Let  the  deacons  be  the  husbands  of  one  wife." 
1  Tim.  iii.  1,  2, 12. 

"  These  things  command  and  teach.  Let  no  man  despise  thy 
youth ;  but  be  thou  an  example  of  the  believers  in  word,  in  con 
versation,  in  charity,  in  faith,  in  purity."  1  Tim.  iv.  11,  12. 

And  we  now  beg  to  inquire  whether  this  lesson  to  Timothy  is 
not  founded  upon  the  law  as  delivered  to  Moses  ?  "And  the  Lord 
said  unto  Moses,  Speak  unto  the  priests  the  sons  of  Aaron,  and  say 
unto  them  :"  *  *  *  "  They  shall  be  holy  unto  their  God,  and 
not  profane  the  name  of  their  God."  *  *  *  "  They  shall  not 
take  a  wife  that  is  a  whore,  or  profane ;  neither  shall  they  take  a 
woman  put  away  from  her  husband."  *  *  *  "And  he  that  is  the 
high  priest  among  his  brethren  *  *  *  shall  take  a  wife  in 
her  virginity."  "A  widow,  or  a  divorced  woman,  or  profane,  or 
a  harlot,  these  he  shall  not  take ;  but  he  shall  take  a  virgin  of  his 
own  people  to  wife."  "Neither  shall  he  profane  his  seed  among 
his  people :  for  I  the  Lord  do  sanctify  him."  Lev.  xxi.  1,  6,  7, 10, 
13, 14, 15. 

We  doubt  not  it  will  be  conceded  that  the  teachings  of  the 
Bible  are,  that  polygamy  includes  the  crime  of  adultery  and  forni 
cation,  both  of  which  have  a  tendency  towards  a  general  promis 
cuous  intercourse.  In  addition  to  the  express  commands  as  to  the 
views  thus  involved,  to  our  mind  there  are  specifications  on  the 
subject  equally  decisive.  "  If  any  man  take  a  wife  * 
and  give  occasion  of  speech  against  her,  *  *  *  then  shall  the 
father  of  the  damsel  and  her  mother  take  and  bring  forth  the 
tokens ;  *  *  *  and  the  damsel's  father  shall  say,  *  *  * 
and,  lo,  he  hath  given  occasion  of  speech  against  her.  *  *  * 
And  the  elders  of  the  city  shall  take  that  man  and  chastise  him ; 
and  they  shall  amerce  him  in  a  hundred  shekels  of  silver,  *  *  * 
and  she  shall  be  his  wife ;  he  may  not  put  her  away  all  his  days." 
"But  if  this  thing  is  true,  and  the  tokens  of  her  virginity  be 
not  found  for  the  damsel ;  then  they  shall  bring  out  the  damsel  to 
the  door  of  her  father's  house,  and  the  men  of  the  city  shall  stone 

her  with  stones  that  she  die."  *     *     *  "  If  a  man  be  found  lying 

15 


226  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

with  a  woman  married  to  a  husband,  then  they  shall  both  of  them 
die."  *  *  *  "  If  a  damsel  that  is  a  virgin  be  betrothed  unto 
a  husband,  and  a  man  find  her  in  the  city  and  lie  with  her  ;  then  ye 
shall  bring  them  both  out  unto  the  gate  of  that  city,  and  ye  shall 
stone  them  with  stones  that  they  die."  *  *  *  "  But  if  a  man 
find  a  betrothed  damsel  in  the  field,  and  the  man  force  her  and  lie 
with  her  ;  then  the  man  only  that  lay  with  her  shall  die."  *  * 
"If  a  man  find  a  damsel  that  is  a  virgin,  which  is  not  betrothed, 
and  lay  hold  on  her,  and  lie  with  her,  and  they  be  found,  then  the 
man  that  lay  with  her  shall  give  unto  the  damsel's  father  fifty 
shekels  of  silver,  and  she  shall  be  his  wife  :  *  *  *  he  may  not 
put  her  away  all  his  days."  Deut.  xxii.  13-25,  28,  29. 

"  A  bastard  shall  not  enter  into  the  congregation  of  the  Lord ; 
even  unto  his  tenth  generation."  Idem,  xxiii.  2. 

"  These  are  the  statutes  which  the  Lord  commanded  Moses  be 
tween  a  man  and  his  wife,  between  the  father  and  his  daughter, 
being  yet  in  her  youth  in  her  father's  house."  Num.  xxx.  16. 

"  When  thou  art  come  into  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God 
giveth  thee,  *  *  *  and  shalt  say,  I  will  set  a  king  over  me,"  &c. 
*  *  *  "But  he  shall  not,"  &c.  *  *  *  " Neither  shall  he 
multiply  wives  to  himself,  that  his  heart  turn  not  away."  Deut. 
xvii.  14-17. 

The  inferences  to  be  drawn  from  a  review  of  these  statutes,  in 
opposition  to  polygamy,  we  deem  of  easy  deduction.  We  leave 
them  for  the  consideration  of  those  who  shall  examine  the  subject. 

We  deem  it  extraordinary  that,  "at  this  age  of  the  world,"  we 
should  find  men  who  seem  to  think  that  because  Moses  had  a 
statute  which,  under  certain  circumstances,  authorized  husbands  to 
divorce  their  wives,  that  thereby  he  permitted  polygamy. 

"  When  a  man  hath  taken  a  wife,  and  married  her,  and  it  come 
to  pass  that  she  find  no  favour  in  his  eyes,  because  he  hath  found 
some  uncleanness  in  her,"  (it  is  the  same  word  elsewhere  trans 
lated  nakedness,)  "  then  let  him  write  her  a  bill  of  divorcement, 
and  give  it  in  her  hand,  and  send  her  out  of  his  house.  And  when 
she  is  departed  out  of  his  house,  she  may  go  and  be  another  man's 
wife.  And  if  the  latter  husband  hate  her,  and  write  her  a  bill  of 
divorcement,  and  giveth  it  in  her  hand,  and  sendeth  her  out  of  his 
house ;  or  if  the  latter  husband  die,  which  took  her  to  be  his  wife ; 
her  former  husband  which  sent  her  away  may  not  take  her  again 
to  be  his  wife,  after  that  she  is  defiled ;  for  this  is  abomination  be 
fore  the  Lord."  Deut.  xxiv,  1-4, 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  227 

Is  there  any  thing  here  that  favours  polygamy  ?  Such  was  the 
law.  But  in  the  original,  there  is  a  term  used  which  became  the 
subject  of  discussion  among  the  Jews,  perhaps  shortly  after  its  pro 
mulgation.  This  term,  in  our  translation  "uncleanness,"  some 
understand  to  mean  such  moral  or  physical  defects  as  rendered  her 
marriage  highly  improper  or  a  nullity;  others  understand  it  to 
mean,  or  rather  to  extend  to  and  embrace,  all  dislike  on  the  part 
of  the  husband  whereby  he  became  desirous  to  be  separated  from 
her. 

This  interpretation  seemed  most  conducive  to  the  power  of  the 
husband,  and,  therefore,  probably  had  the  most  advocates ;  and  it  is 
said  that  the  Jewish  rulers  so  suffered  it  to  be  understood,  and  that 
even  Moses,  as  a  man,  suffered  it ;  noticing  that  where  the  wife 
became  greatly  hated  by  the  husband,  she  was  extremely  liable  to 
abuse,  unless  this  law  was  so  explained  as  to  permit  a  divorce. 
The  Jews  kept  up  the  dispute  about  this  matter  down  to  the  days 
of  our  Saviour;  when  the  Pharisees,  with  the  view  to  place  before 
him  a  difficult  question,  and  one  that  might  entangle  him,  if  an 
swered  adverse  to  the  popular  idea,  presented  it  to  him,  as  related 
in  Matt.  xix.  He  promptly  decides  the  question,  whereupon  they 
say— 

16  Why  did  Moses  then  command  to  give  a  writing  of  divorce 
ment,  and  to  put  her  away  ?  He  saith  unto  them,  Moses,  because 
of  the  hardness  of  your  hearts,  suffered  you  to  put  away  your 
wives  :  but  from  the  beginning  it  was  not  so.  And  I  say  unto  you, 
Whoever  shall  put  away  his  wife,  except  it  be  for  fornication,  and 
shall  marry  another,  committeth  adultery ;  and  whoever  marrieth 
her  that  is  put  away,  doth  commit  adultery."  Matt.  xix.  7,  8,  9. 

Mark  describes  this  interview  thus:  "And  the  Pharisees  came 
to  him,  and  asked  him,  saying,  Is  it  lawful  for  a  man  to  put  away 
his  wife,  tempting  him  ?  And  he  answered  and  said  unto  them, 
What  did  Moses  command  you?  And  they  said,  Moses  suffered 
to  write  a  bill  of  divorcement,  and  to  put  her  away.  Jesus  an 
swered  and  said  unto  them,  For  the  hardness  of  your  heart  he 
wrote  you  this  precept :  but  from  the  beginning  of  the  creation, 
God  made  them  male  and  female."  Mark  x.  2-6. 

But  do  these  answers,  either  way,  favour  polygamy  ?  Is  it  riot 
clear  that  the  law  was  in  opposition  to  it  ? 

It  is  true,  the  Jews,  corrupted  by  the  neighbouring  nations  who 
fell  into  it,  practised  the  habit  to  a  great  extent;  and  so  they  did 


228  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

idolatry  and  many  other  sins.  But  was  idolatry  allowed  to  the 
Israelites  ? 

What  truth  can  there  be  in  the  assertion  that  they  were  allowed 
a  thing,  in  the  practice  of  which  they  had  to  trample  their  laws 
under  foot  ?  And,  under  the  statement  of  the  facts,  what  truth 
is  there  in  the  assertion  that  "  polygamy  was  licensed  in  the  age 
of  the  apostles  ?" 

If  such  was  "  the  practice  of  the  holiest  men,"  it  proves  nothing 
except  that  the  holiest  men  were  in  the  practice  of  breaking  the  lav/. 

It  is  true  that  a  looseness  of  adjudication  on  the  subject  of 
divorce  grew  up,  perhaps  even  from  the  time  of  Moses,  among  the 
Jews,  on  account  of  the  dispute  about  the  interpretation  of  the 
law.  But  upon  the  supposition  that  the  law  was  correctly  in 
terpreted  by  those  who  advocated  the  greatest  laxity,  which  Jesus 
Christ  sufficiently  condemned,  yet  there  is  found  nothing  favouring 
polygamy  in  it ;  for  even  the  loosest  interpretation  supposed  a 
divorce  necessary.  The  dispute  was  not  about  polygamy;  but 
about  what  predicates  rendered  a  divorce  legal. 

In  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  we  find  the  accounts  of  many 
crimes  that  were  committed  in  those  olden  days ;  but  can  any  one 
be  so  stupid  as  to  suppose  the  law  permitted  those  crimes,  because 
the  history  of  them  has  reached  us  through  these  books  ? 

If  the  polygamy  of  Jacob,  rehearsed  in  these  books,  teaches  the 
doctrine  that  these  books  permitted  polygamy, — then,  because  these 
books  relate  the  history  of  the  murder  of  Abel,  it  must  be  said 
that  these  books  permit  murder  ?  And  because,  in  these  books, 
we  have  the  account  of  the  disobedience  of  Adam  and  Eve,  that 
therefore  disobedience  to  the  command  of  God  is  legalized  also  ! 

Before  we  can  say  that  polygamy  is  countenanced  by  the  Old 
Testament  as  well  as  slavery,  we  must  find  some  special  law  to  that 
effect.  And  some  of  the  advocates  of  abolition,  striving  to  make  a 
parallel  between  slavery  and  polygamy,  pretend  they  have  done  so 
in  Lev.  xviii.  18  :  "Neither  shalt  thou  take  a  wife  to  her  sister  to 
vex  her,  to  uncover  her  nakedness,  besides  the  other  in  her  life 
time." 

These  advocates  interpret  this  law  to  permit  a  man  to  marry  two 
wives  or  more,  so  that  no  two  of  them  are  sisters  ;  and  because  few 
take  the  trouble  to  ^contradict  them,  they  seem  to  think  their  inter 
pretation  to  be  true,  and  urge  it  as  such. 

It  was  clear  the  law  permitted  no  additional  wife,  so  as  to  allow 
two  or  more  wives,  unless,  by  the  example  of  Jacob,  the  law  was 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  229 

ameliorated.  His  example  was  the  taking  of  sisters ;  and  if  the 
original  be  correctly  translated,  his  example  is  condemned  by  the 
law  cited.  We  surely  fail  to  see  how  forbidding  polygamy  as  to 
sisters,  permits  it  as  to  others.  Louisiana  by  law  forbids  any  free 
white  person  being  joined  in  marriage  to  a  person  of  colour.  If 
that  State,  in  addition,  forbids  free  white  persons  being  married  to 
slaves,  does  it  repeal  the  law  as  to  persons  of  colour  ? 

But  to  the  Hebrew  scholar  we  propose  a  small  error  in  the 
translation  of  this  passage.  The  preceding  twelve  verses  treat  on 
the  subject  of  whom  it  is  forbidden  to  marry  on  the  account  of 
consanguinity,  the  last  of  which  names  the  grand-daughter  of  a 
previous  wife,  declaring  such  act  to  be  wicked,  and  closes  the  list 
of  objections  on  account  of  consanguinity,  unless  such  list  be  ex 
tended  by  the  passage  under  review ;  for  the  succeeding  sentence 
is  a  prohibition  of  all  females  who  may  be  unclean  ;  consanguinity 
is  no  more  mentioned ;  yet  these  prohibitions  continue  to  the  23d 
verse ;  and  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  each  prohibition  succeeding  the 
wife's  grand-daughter  commences  with  a  1  (vav  with  sheva),  whereas 
not  one  on  the  ground  of  consanguinity  is  thus  introduced ;  illus 
trating  the  fact  that  each  prohibition,  succeeding  the  wife's  grand 
daughter,  is  founded  upon  new  and  distinct  causes. 

The  widow  of  a  deceased  husband  who  had  left  no  issue  was  per 
mitted  to  marry  his  brother ;  it  was  even  made  a  duty.  There 
fore,  by  parity  of  reason,  there  could  be  no  objection,  on  the 
account  of  consanguinity,  for  the  husband  of  a  deceased  wife  to 
marry  her  sister. 

It  is  clear  then  that  the  person  whom  this  clause  of  the  law  for 
bids  to  marry,  is  some  person  other  than  a  deceased  wife's  sister. 

We  propose  for  consideration,  as  nearly  literal  as  may  be,  to  ex 
press  the  idea  conveyed — Thou  shalt  not  take  one  wife  to  another, 
to  be  enemies,  or  to  be  exiles,  the  shame  of  thy  bed-chamber  through 
life. 

The  doctrine  it  inculcates  is,  if  a  man  has  two  wives,  he  must 
either  live  in  the  midst  of  their  rivalry  and  enmity,  or  exile  one  or 
both ;  either  of  which  is  disgrace.  The  reading  may  be  varied ; 
but  let  the  Hebrew  scholar  compare  the  first  three  words  of  the 
original  with  Exod.  xxvi.  3,  where  they  twice  occur,  and  also  with 
the  6th  and  17th  verses  of  the  same  chapter,  in  each  of  which  they 
are  also  found.  Let  him  notice  that,  in  the  passage  before  us,  in 
the  word  translated  sister,  the  vav,  under  holem,  is  omitted; 
whereas  such  is  not  the  case  in  the  preceding  instances,  where  the 


230  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY 

word  is  correctly  translated  to  express  a  term  of  consanguinity ; 
und  we  think  he  will  abandon  the  idea  that  PinhN  ahotha,  in  the 
passage  before  us,  means  sister ;  and  if  not,  the  sentence  stands  a 
clear,  indisputable,  and  general  condemnation  of  polygamy. 

Can  Dr.  Channing's  disciples  point  out  to  us  a  law  allowing  poly 
gamy  in  as  direct  terms  as  the  following  would  have  done,  substi 
tuting  the  word  wives  for  slaves  f 

"  Thy  wives  which  thou  shalt  have,  shall  be  of  the  heathen  that 
are  round  about  you  :  of  them  shall  ye  buy  wives"  "  Moreover, 
of  the  children  of  the  strangers  that  sojourn  among  you,  of  them 
shall  ye  buy  wives" — "  and  of  their  families  that  are  with  you,  which 
they  beget  in  your  land,  and  they  shall  be  your  wives"  "And 
ye  shall  take  them  as  wives  for  your  children  after  you,  and  they 
shall  have  them  for  wives" — "they  shall  be  your  wives  for  ever." 
Compare  Lev.  xxv.  44,  46. 

Until  they  can  do  so,  until  they  shall  do  so,  we  shall  urge  their 
not  doing  it  as  one  reason  why  the  Scripture  "cannot  be  use'd  to 
stock  our  houses  with  wives  as  well  as  with  slaves." 


LESSON  X. 

DR.  CHANNINQ  says,  page  101,  vol.  ii. — 

"  Slavery,  at  the  age  of  the  apostle,  had  so  penetrated  society, 
was  so  intimately  interwoven  with  it,  and  the  materials  of  servile  war 
were  so  abundant,  that  a  religion,  preaching  freedom  to  the  slave, 
would  have  shaken  the  social  fabric  to  its  foundation,  and  would 
have  armed  against  itself  the  whole  power  of  the  state.  Paul  did 
not  then  assail  the  institution.  He  satisfied  himself  with  spreading 
principles  which,  however  slowly,  could  not  but  work  its  destruc 
tion.  *  *  *  And  how,  in  his  circumstances,  he  could  have 
done  more  for  the  subversion  of  slavery,  I  do  not  see." 

May  we  request  the  disciples  of  Dr.  Channing  to  read  the  chap 
ter  on  "  Slavery,"  in  Paley's  Moral  and  Political  Philosophy,  and 
decide  whether  the  above  is  borrowed  in  substance  therefrom.  And 
we  beg  further  to  inquire,  whether  it  does  not  place  Paul,  consi 
dering  "his  circumstances,"  in  an  odious  position?  What,  Paul 
satisfying  himself  to  not  do  his  duty !  What,  Paul  shrink  from 
assailing  an  institution  because  deeply  rooted  in  power  and  sin ! 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  231 

What,  Paul,  the  apostle  of  God,  fearing,  hesitating,  failing  to  de 
nounce  a  great  sin,  because  it  was  penetrating  through  and  inti 
mately  interwoven  with  society ! 

Why  did  he  not  manifest  the  same  consideration  in  behalf  of 
other  great  sins  ?  Would  it  not  be  an  easier  and  more  rational 
way  to  account  for  his  not  assailing  slavery,  by  supposing  him  to 
have  known  that  it  was  the  providence  of  God,  in  mercy,  present 
ing  some  protection  to  those  too  degraded  and  low  to  protect  them 
selves  ?  If  such  supposition  describes  the  true  character  of  the 
institution  of  slavery,  then  the  conduct  of  Paul  in  regard  to  it 
would  have  been  just  what  it  was.  Paul  lived  all  his  life  in  the 
midst  of  slavery ;  as  a  man  among  men,  he  had  a  much  better 
opportunity  to  know  what  was  truth  in  the  case  than  Dr.  Channing. 
But  as  an  apostle,  Paul  was  taught  of  God.  Will  the  disciples  of 
Dr.  Channing  transfer  these  considerations  from  St.  Paul  to  the 
Almighty,  and  say  that  he  was  afraid  to  announce  his  truth,  his 
law,  then  to  the  world,  lest  it  should  stir  up  a  little  war  in  the  Ro 
man  Empire  ?  In  what  position  does  Dr.  Channing  place  Him, 
who  came  to  reveal  truth,  holding  death  and  judgment  in  his  hand ! 

"  Now  they  have  known  that  all  things  whatsoever  thou  hast 
given  me  are  of  thee :  For  I  have  given  unto  them  the  words  which 
thou  gavest  me;  and  they  have  received  them."  John  xvii.  7,  8. 

"  I  take  you  to  record  this  day,  that  I  am  pure  from  the  blood 
of  all  men,  for  I  have  not  shunned  to  declare  unto  you  all  the 
counsel  of  God."  Acts  xx.  26,  27. 

"God  forbid:  yea,  let  God  be  true,  but  every  man  a  liar." 
Rom.  iii.  4. 

But  we  propose  to  the  disciples  of  Dr.  Channing  an  inquiry  : 
If  he  could  not  see  how  St.  Paul  in  his  circumstances  could  have 
done  more  for  the  subversion  of  slavery,  why  did  he  not  take  St. 
Paul  for  his  example,  and  suffer  the  matter  to  rest  where  St.  Paul 
left  it  ?  For  he  says,  vol.  iii.  page  152—"  It  becomes  the  preacher 
to  remember  that  there  is  a  silent,  indirect  influence,  more  sure 
and  powerful  than  direct  assaults  on  false  opinions."  Or  was  he 
less  careless  than  St.  Paul  about  stirring  up  a  servile  war,  and  of 
shaking  our  social  fabric  to  its  foundation?  Or  did  the  doctor's 
circumstances  place  him  on  higher  ground  than  St.  Paul  ?  Had 
"this  age  of  the  world"  presented  him  with  new  light  on  the  true 
interpretation  of  the  Scriptures  ?  Had  the  afflatus  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  commissioned  him  to  supersede  Paul  as  an  apostle  ?  Are 
we  to  expect,  through  him,  a  new  and  improved  edition  of  the 


232  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


gospel  ?  And  is  this  the  reason  why  an  argument  drawn  from  the 
Old  Edition  now  "hardly  deserves  notice?" 

Dr.  Channing  says,  vol.  ii.  p.  104 — "The  very  name  of  the 
Christian  religion  would  have  been  forgotten  amidst  the  agitations 
of  universal  bloodshed."  Is  then  the  Christian  religion  a  fabri 
cation  of  men  ?  Was  Christ  himself  an  impostor  ?  And  could 
Dr.  Channing  loan  himself  to  such  a  consideration  ? 

"  Upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church :  and  the  gates  of  hell 
shall  not  prevail  against  it."  Matt.  xvi.  18. 


LESSON  XL 

THE  sixth  position  in  the  treatise  under  consideration  is,  "  I 
shall  offer  some  remarks  on  the  means  of  removing  it."  His  plan 
is,  page  108 — "  In  the  first  place,  the  great  principle  that  man 
cannot  rightfully  be  held  as  property,  should  be  admitted  by  the 
slaveholder." 

Dr.  Channing  seems  to  suppose  that  his  previous  arguments  are 
sufficient  to  produce  the  proposed  admission. 

Page  109.  "  It  would  be  cruelty  to  strike  the  fetters  from  a 
man,  whose  first  steps  would  infallibly  lead  him  to  a  precipice. 
The  slave  should  not  have  an  owner,  but  he  should  have  a  guar 
dian." 

We  take  this  as  an  admission  that  the  slave  is  not  a  fit  subject 
for  freedom.  But  he  says — 

Page  110.  "  But  there  is  but  one  weighty  argument  against  im 
mediate  emancipation  ;  namely,  that  the  slave  would  not  support 
himself  and  his  children  by  honest  industry." 

Dr.  Channing's  plan  in  short  is,  that  the  names,  master  and 
slave,  shall  be  exchanged  for  guardian  and  ward ;  but  he  awards 
no  compensation  to  the  guardian  ; — that  the  negro  shall  be  told  he 
is  free ;  yet  he  should  be  compelled  to  work  for  his  own  and  his 
family's  support ; — that  none  should  be  whipped  who  will  toil  "from 
rational  and  honourable  motives." 

Page  112.  "  In  case  of  being  injured  by  his  master  in  this  or  in 
any  respect,  he  should  be  either  set  free,  or,  if  unprepared  for 
liberty,  should  be  transmitted  to  another  guardian." 

Dr..  Channing  proposes  "bounties,"  "rewards,"  "new  privi 
leges,"  "increased  indulgences,"  "prizes  for  good  conduct,"  &c., 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  233 

as  substitutes  for  the  lash.  He  supposes  that  the  slave  may  be 
^elevated  and  his  energies  called  forth  by  placing  his  domestic 
relations  on  new  ground."  "This  is  essential;  we  wish  him  to 
labour  for  his  family.  Then  he  must  have  a  family  to  labour  for. 
Then  his  wife  and  children  must  be  truly  his  own.  Then  his  home 
must  be  inviolate.  Then  the  responsibilities  of  a  husband  and 
father  must  be  laid  on  him.  It  is  argued  that  he  will  be  fit  for 
freedom  as  soon  as  the  support  of  his  family  shall  become  his  habit 
and  his  happiness." 

Page  114.  "  To  carry  this  and  other  means  of  improvement  into 
effect,  it  is  essential  that  the  slave  should  no  longer  be  bought  and 
sold." 

Page  115.  "  Legislatures  should  meet  to  free  the  slave.  The 
church  should  rest  not,  day  nor  night,  till  this  stain  be  wiped 
away." 

We  do  not  choose  to  make  any  remark  on  his  plan  of  emanci 
pation;  we  shall  merely  quote  one  passage  from  page  106 : 

"  How  slavery  shall  be  removed  is  a  question  for  the  slaveholder, 
and  one  which  he  alone  can  answer  fully.  He  alone  has  an  inti 
mate  knowledge  of  the  character  and  habits  of  the  slaves." 

In  this  we  fully  concur ;  and  we  now  ask  our  readers,  what  does 
Dr.  Channing's  confession  of  this  fact  suggest  to  their  minds  ? 

Dr.  Channing's  seventh  proposition  is,  "  To  offer  some  remarks 
on  abolitionism."  The  considerations  of  this  chapter  are  evidently 
addressed  to  the  abolitionists,  with  which  we  have  no  wish  to  in 
terfere.  There  are,  however,  in  it,  some  fine  sentiments  expressed 
in  his  usual  eloquent  style. 

The  eighth  and  concluding  subject  is,  "A  few  reflections  on  the 
duties  of  the  times."  These  reflections,  we  are  exceedingly  sorry 
to  find  highly  inflammatory ;  they  are  addressed  alone  to  the  Free 
States.  We  shall  present  a  few  specimens.  They  need  no  com 
ment  :  there  are  those  to  whom  pity  is  more  applicable  than 
reproof. 

Page  138.  "  A  few  words  remain  to  be  spoken  in  relation  to  the 
duties  of  the  Free  States.  These  need  to  feel  the  responsibilities 
and  dangers  of  their  present  position.  The  country  is  approach 
ing  a  crisis  on  the  greatest  question  which  can  be  proposed  to  it ; 
a  question,  not  of  profit  or  loss,  of  tariffs  or  banks,  or  any  tempo 
rary  interests;  but  a  question  involving  the  first  principles  of  free 
dom,  morals,  and  religion." 

Page  139.  "  There  are,  however,  other  duties  of  the  Free  States, 


234  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

to  which  they  may  prove  false,  and  which  they  are  too  willing  to 
forget.  They  are  bound,  not  in  their  public,  but  in  their  individual 
capacities,  to  use  every  virtuous  influence  for  the  abolition  of 
slavery." 

Page  140.  "  At  this  moment  an  immense  pressure  is  driving  the 
North  from  its  true  ground.  God  save  it  from  imbecility,  from 
treachery  to  freedom  and  virtue  !  I  have  certainly  no  feelings  but 
those  of  good-will  towards  the  South ;  but  I  speak  the  universal 
sentiments  of  this  part  of  the  country,  when  I  say  that  the  tone 
which  the  South  has  often  assumed  towards  the  North  has  been 
that  of  a  superior,  a  tone  unconsciously  borrowed  from  the  habit 
of  command  to  which  it  is  unhappily  accustomed  by  the  form  of 
its  society.  I  must  add,  that  this  high  bearing  of  the  South  has 
not  always  been  met  by  a  just  consciousness  of  equality,  a  just 
self-respect  at  the  North.  *  *  *  Here  lies  the  danger.  The 
North  will  undoubtedly  be  just  to  the  South.  It  must  also  be  just 
to  itself.  This  is  not  the  time  for  sycophancy,  for  servility,  for 
compromise  of  principle,  for  forgetfulness  of  our  rights.  It  is  the 
time  to  manifest  the  spirit  of  MEN,  a  spirit  which  prizes,  more  than 
life,  the  principles  of 'liberty,  of  justice,  of  humanity,  of  pure 
morals,  of  pure  religion." 

Page  142.  "  Let  us  show  that  we  have  principles,  compared  with 
which  the  wealth  of  the  world  is  as  light  as  air.  *  *  *  The 
Free  States,  it  is  to  be  feared,  must  pass  through  a  struggle.  May 
they  sustain  it  as  becomes  their  freedom  !  The  present  excitement 
at  the  South  can  hardly  be  expected  to  pass  away,  without  attempts 
to  wrest  from  them  unworthy  concessions.  The  tone  in  regard  to 
slavery  in  that  part  of  the  country  is  changed.  It  is  not-  only 
more  vehement,  but  more  false  than  formerly :  once  slavery  was 
acknowledged  as  an  evil;  now,  it  is  proclaimed  to  be  a  good." 

Page  143.  "  Certainly,  no  assertion  of  the  wildest  abolitionist 
could  give  such  a  shock  to  the  slaveholder,  as  this  new  doctrine  is 
fitted  to  give  to  the  people  of  the  North.  *  *  *  There  is  a 
great  dread  in  this  part  of  the  country  that  the  Union  of  the  States 
may  be  dissolved  by  conflict  about  slavery.  No  one 

prizes  the  Union  more  than  myself." 

Page  144.  "  Still,  if  the  Union  can  be  purchased  only  by  the 
imposition  of  chains  on  the  tongue  and  the  press,  by  prohibition  of 
discussion  on  the  subject  involving  the  most  sacred  rights  and 
dearest  interests  of  humanity,  then  union  would  be  bought  at  too 
dear  a  price." 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVEdY.  235 


In  Ins  concluding  note,  he  says,  page  153 — "  I  feel  too  much 
about  the  great  subject  on  which  I  have  written,  to  be  very  soli 
citous  about  what  is  said  of  myself.  I  feel  that  I  am  nothing,  that 
my  reputation  is  nothing,  in  comparison  with  the  fearful  wrong  and 
evil  which  I  have  laboured  to  expose ;  and  I  should  count  myself 
unworthy  the  name  of  a  man  or  a  Christian,  if  the  calumnies  of 
the  bad,  or  even  the  disapprobation  of  the  good,  could  fasten  my 
thoughts  on  myself,  and  turn  me  aside  from  a  cause  which,  as  I 
believe,  truth,  humanity,  and  God  call  me  to  sustain." 


LESSON  XII. 

THE  abolition  writers  and  speakers  are  properly  divided  into  two 
classes  :  those  who  agitate  and  advocate  the  subject  as  a  successful 
means  of  advancing  their  own  personal  and  ambitious  hopes ;  some 
times  with 

"  One  eye  turned  to  God,  condemning  moral  evil ; 
The  other  downward,  winking  at  the  devil!" 

Thus,  one  seeks  office,  another  distinction  or  fame.  Small  con 
siderations  often  stimulate  the  conduct  of  such  men. 

But  we  have  evidence  that  another  class  zealously  labour  to  abo 
lish  slavery  from  the  world,  because  they  think  its  existence  a  stain 
on  the  human  character,  and  that  the  laws  of  God  make  it  the  duty 
of  every  man  to  "  cry  aloud  and  spare  not,"  until  it  shall  cease. 

Our  author  had  no  secondary  views  alluring  him  on  to  toil ;  no 
new  purpose  ;  no  new  summit  to  gain.  What  he  thought  darkness 
he  hated,  because  he  loved  the  light;  what  he  thought  wicked,  to 
his  soul  was  awful  and  abhorred,  because,  even  in  life,  he  was  ever 
peering  into  the  confines  of  heaven.  Ardour  was  cultivated  into 
zeal,  and  zeal  into  enthusiasm. 

In  its  eagerness  to  accomplish  its  object  in  behalf  of  liberty,  the 
mind  is  often  prepared  to  subvert  without  reflection — to  destroy 
without  care.  Hence,  even  the  religious  may  sometimes  "  record 
that  they  have  a  zeal  of  God,  but  not  according  to  knowledge." 
"  For  they  being  ignorant  of  God's  righteousness,  and  going  about 
to  establish  their  own  righteousness,  have  not  submitted  themselves 
unto  the  righteousness  of  God."  Rom.  x. 


236  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

They  are  convinced  that  they  alone  are  right.  But,  "  Can  a 
man  be  profitable  unto  God,  as  he  that  is  wise  may  be  profitable 
unto  himself?  Is  it  any  pleasure  to  the  Almighty,  that  thou  art 
righteous?  or  is  it  gain,  that  thou  makest  thy  ways  perfect." 
Job  xxii.  2,  3. 

"  Knowest  thou  the  ordinances  of  heaven  ?  Canst  thou  set  the 
dominion  thereof  in  the  earth?"  Answer  thou,  Why  "leaveththe 
ostrich  her  eggs  in  the  earth,  and  warmeth  them  in  the  dust? 
Why  forgetteth  she  that  the  foot  may  crush  them,  or  that  the  wild 
beast  may  break  them  ?" 

"  Why  is  she  hardened  against  her  young  ones,  as  though  they 
were  not  hers  ?"  "  Why  is  her  labour  in  vain  without  fear?" 

"  Why  feedeth  the  fish  upon  its  fellow,  which  forgetteth  and  de- 
voureth  its  young  ?" 

"  Who  looketh  on  the  proud  and  bringeth  him  low  ?  and  treadeth 
down  the  wicked  in  their  place  ?  hiding  them  in  the  dust,  and 
binding  their  faces  in  secret?" 

Who  hardeneth  the  heart  of  Pharaoh  ?  and  multiplies  signs 
and  wonders  before  the  children  of  men?  Who  is  he  who  "hath 
mercy  on  whom  he  will  ?"  Why  was  Esau  hated  or  Jacob  loved 
before  they  were  born  ? 

Wilt  thou  say,  "  Why  doth  he  find  fault  ?  for  who  hath  resisted 
his  will."  See  Rom.  ix.  19. 

Or  wilt  thou  rather  say,  "Behold  I  am  vile;  what  shall  I 
answer  thee  ?  I  will  lay  my  hand  upon  my  mouth.  Once  have  I 
spoken ;  but  I  will  not  answer  thee  :  yea,  twice  ;  but  I  will  pro 
ceed  no  further."  Job  xl.  4. 

There  are  in  these  volumes  several  other  essays,  under  different 
titles,  on  the  same  subject ;  but  in  most  instances,  although  the 
language  is  varied,  the  same  arguments  exert  their  power  on 
the  mind  of  the  writer.  Aided  by  the  common  sympathy  of  the 
people  among  whom  he  lived,  and  the  conscientious  operations  of 
his  own  mind,  his  judgment  on  the  decision  of  the  question  of 
right  and  wrong  became  unchangeably  fixed;  while  the  evidence 
forced  upon  him  by  the  only  class  of  facts  in  relation  to  the  subject 
which  his  education  and  associations  in  society  enabled  him  to  com 
prehend,  became  daily  more  imposing,  more  exciting  in  their  re 
view,  more  lucid  in  their  exposing  an  image  of  deformity,  the  most 
wicked  of  the  offspring  of  evil.  Filled  with  horror,  yet  as  if 
allured  by  an  evil  charm,  his  mind  seems  to  have  had  no  power  to 


STUDIES   ON  SLAVERY.  287 

banish  from  its  sight  its  horrid  vision.  Nor  is  it  singular  that  it 
should,  to  some  extent,  become  the  one  idea — his  leading  chain  of 
thought.  To  him,  the  proofs  of  his  doctrine  became  a  blaze  of 
light,  so  piercingly  brilliant  that  nothing  of  a  contrary  bearing  was 
worthy  of  belief  or  consideration. 

The  following  extracts  will  perhaps  sufficiently  develop  the 
state  to  which  his  mind  had  arrived  on  this  subject  of  his  study. 
Vol.  vi.  p.  38,  he  says — "  My  maxim  is,  Any  thing  but  slavery  !" 

Page  50.  "  The  history  of  West  India  emancipation  teaches 
us  that  we  are  holding  in  bondage  one  of  the  best  races  of  the 
human  family.  The  negro  is  among  the  mildest  and  gentlest  of 
men.  He  is  singularly  susceptible  of  improvement  from  abroad. 
His  children,  it  is  said,  receive  more  rapidly  than  ours  the  elements 
of  knowledge." 

Page  51.  "A  short  residence  among  the  negroes  in  the  West 
Indies  impressed  me  with  their  capacity  for  improvement ;  on  all 
sides,  I  heard  of  their  religious  tendencies,  the  noblest  of  human 
nature.  I  saw,  too,  on  the  plantation  where  I  resided,  a  graceful 
ness  and  dignity  of  form  and  motion  rare  in  my  own  native  New 
England.  And  that  is  the  race  which  has  been  selected  to  be 
trodden  down  and  confounded  with  the  brute." 

If  slavery  in  the  West  Indies  has  thus  elevated  the  African 
tribes  above  the  majority  of  the  people  of  New  England,  we  will 
not  ask  the  question,  whether  the  doctor's  disciples  propose  the  ex 
periment  on  their  countrymen.  But  there  is,  nevertheless,  abun 
dant  proof  that  slavery  to  the  white  races  does  necessarily,  and 
from  philosophical  causes,  have  the  most  direct  tendency  to  elevate 
the  moral,  mental,  and  physical  ability  of  the  African ;  in  fact,  of 
any  other  race  of  men  sunk  equally  low  in  degradation  and  ruin. 

If  the  negro  slaves  of  the  West  Indies  exhibit  moral,  mental, 
and  physical  merit  in  advance  of  most  of  Dr.  Channing's  country 
men,  who  were  never  in  slavery,  we  beg  to  know  how  it  is  accounted 
for ;  what  are  the  causes  that  have  operated  to  produce  it  ?  For 
we  believe  no  sane  man,  who  knows  any  thing  of  the  African  sa 
vage  in  his  native  state,  whether  bond  or  free,  will  so  much  as  give 
a  hint  that  they  are  as  elevated  in  any  respect  as  are  his  country 
men,  the  people  of  New  England.  Will  the  fact  then  be  acknow 
ledged,  that  slavery,  however  bad,  does  yet  constitutionally  amend 
and  elevate  the  African  savage ! 

At  the  moment  the  foregoing  paragraphs  were  placed  on  paper, 


238  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

there  happened  to  be  present  a  Northern  gentleman,  who  very 
justly  entertained  the  most  elevated  regard  for  the  personal  cha 
racter  of  Dr.  Channing,  to  whom  they  were  read.  His  views 
seemed  to  be  that  the  extracts  from  Channing  were  garbled,  and 
the  deductions  consequent  thereon  unjustly  severe. 

We  war  not  with  Dr.  Channing,  nor  his  character.  He  no  longer 
liveth.  But  his  works  live,  and  new  editions  crowd  upon  the  public 
attention,  as  if  his  disciples  were  anxious  to  saturate  the  whole 
world  with  his  er.rors,  as  well  as  to  make  known  his  many  virtues. 
We  do  not  design  to  garble ;  and  therefore  requote  the  extract 
more  fully,  from  vol.  vi.  pp.  50,  51 : 

"  The  history  of  the  West  India  emancipation  teaches  us  that 
we  are  holding  in  bondage  one  of  the  best  races  of  the  human 
family.  The  negro  is  among  the  mildest,  gentlest  of  men.  He  is 
singularly  susceptible  of  improvement  from  abroad.  His  children, 
it  is  said,  receive  more  rapidly  than  ours  the  elements  of  know 
ledge.  How  far  he  can  originate  improvements,  time  only  can 
teach.  His  nature  is  affectionate,  easily  touched ;  and  hence  he 
is  more  open  to  religious  impression  than  the  white  man.  The 
European  race  have  manifested  more  courage,  enterprise,  inven 
tion  ;  but  in  the  dispositions  which  Christianity  particularly 
honours,  how  inferior  are  they  to  the  African  !  When  I  cast  my 
eyes  over  our  Southern  region,  the  land  of  bowie-knives,  Lynch- 
law,  and  duels,  of  'chivalry,  honour,'  and  revenge;  and  when  I 
consider  that  Christianity  is  declared  to  be  a  spirit  of  charity, 
4  which  seeketh  not  its  own,  is  not  easily  provoked,  thinketh  no 
evil,  and  endureth  all  things,'  and  is  declared  to  be  'the  wisdom 
from  above,  which  is  first  pure,  then  peaceable,  gentle,  easy  to  be 
entreated,  full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits,' — can  I  hesitate  in  de 
ciding  to  which  of  the  races  in  that  land  Christianity  is  most 
adapted,  in  which  its  noblest  diociples  are  most  likely  to  be  reared." 

Pp.  52,  53.  "  Could  the  withering  influence  of  slavery  be  with 
drawn,  the  Southern  character,  though  less  consistent,  less  based 
on  principle,  might  be  more  attractive  and  lofty  than  that  of  the 
North.  The  South  is  proud  of  calling  itself  Anglo-Saxon.  Judg 
ing  from  character,  I  should  say  that  this  name  belongs  much  more 
to  the  North,  the  country  of  steady,  persevering,  unconquerable 
energy.  Our  Southern  brethren  remind  me  more  of  the  Normans. 
They  seem  to  have  in  their  veins  the  burning  blood  of  that  pirate 
race." 

*'  Who  is  he  that  hideth  counsel  without  knowledge  ?     Thereiore 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  23if 

have  I  uttered  that  I  understood  not;  things  too  wondeiful  for 
me,  which  I  knew  not."  Job  xlii.  3. 

Will  the  disciples  of  Dr.  Channing  account  for  the  curious  facts 
developed  by  the  census  of  1850,  as  follows  ?— 

"  A  writer  in  the  New  York  Observer  calls  attention  to  some 
curious  facts  derived  from  the  census  of  the  United  States.  These 
facts  show  that  there  is  a  remarkable  prevalence  of  idiocy  and  in 
sanity  among  the  free  blacks  over  the  whites,  and  especially  over 
the  slaves.  In  the  State  of  Maine,  every  fourteenth  coloured  per 
son  is  an  idiot  or  a  lunatic.  And  though  there  is  a  gradual  im 
provement  in  the  condition  of  the  coloured  race  as  we  proceed 
West  and  South,  yet  it  is  evident  that  the  Free  States  are  the  prin 
cipal  abodes  of  idiocy  and  lunacy  among  them. 

"  In  Ohio,  there  are  just  ten  coloured  persons,  who  are  idiots  or 
lunatics,  where  there  is  one  in  Kentucky.  And  in  Louisiana,  where 
a  large  majority  of  the  population  is  coloured,  and  four-fifths  of 
them  are  slaves,  there  is  but  one  of  these  unfortunates  to  4309  who 
are  sane.  The  proportions  in  other  States,  according  to  the  census 
of  1850,  are  as  follow :— In  Massachusetts,  1  in  43 ;  Connecticut, 
1  in  185  ;  New  York,  1  in  257  ;  Pennsylvania,  1  in  256  ;  Mary 
land,  1  in  10T4;  Virginia,  1  in  1309;  North  Carolina,  1  in  1215; 
South  Carolina,  1  in  2440 ;  Ohio,  1  in  105 ;  Kentucky,  1  in  1053. 
This  is  certainly  a  curious  calculation,  and  indicates  that  diseases 
of  the  brain  are  far  more  rare  among  the  slaves  than  among  the 
free  of  the  coloured  race." 


LESSON  XIII. 

SYMPATHY  probably  operates  more  or  less  in  the  mind  of  each 
individual  of  the  human  family.  Traces  of  it  are  discovered  even 
m  some  of  the  brute  creation ;  but  yet  we  are  far  from  saying 
chat  it  is  merely  an  animal  feeling.  But  we  do  say  that  sympathy 
often  gives  a  direction  to  our  chains  of  thought ;  and  that,  in  some 
minds,  such  direction  is  scarcely  to  be  changed  by  any  subsequent 
reflection,  or  even  evidence.  Some  minds  seem  incapable  of  ap 
preciating  any  evidence  which  does  not  make  more  open  whatever 
way  sympathy  may  lead;  consequently  a  full  history  of  its  exer- 


240  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


cise  wou'd  prove  that  it  has  been  frequently  expended  on  mistaken 
facts,  imaginary  conditions,  or  fictitious  suffering.  In  such  cases, 
it  may  produce  much  evil,  and  real  suffering.  It  therefore  may  be 
of  some  importance  to  the  sympathizer  and  to  community,  that 
this  feeling  be  under  the  government  of  a  correct  judgment  founded 
on  truth. 

Among  the  rude  tribes  of  men,  and  in  the  early  ages  of  the 
world,  its  action  seems  to  have  taken  the  place  of  what,  in  a  higher 
civilization  and  cultivation  of  the  mind,  should  be  the  result  of 
moral  principle  founded  on  truth. 

But  even  now,  if  we  look  abroad  upon  the  families  of  men,  even 
to  the  most  intellectual,  shall  we  not  find  the  greater  number  rather 
under  the  government  of  the  former  than  the  latter  ?  One  infer 
ence  surely  is,  that  man,  as  yet,  has  not,  by  far,  arrived  at  the 
fullest  extent  of  intellectual  improvement. 

But  suppose  we  say  that  God  punishes  sin ;  or,  by  the  laws  of 
God,  sin  brings  upon  itself  punishment ; — we  propose  the  question, 
how  far,  under  our  relation  to  our  Creator,  is  it  consistent  in  us  to 
sympathize  with  such  punishment  ?  It  may  be  answered,  we  are 
instructed  to  "remember"  to  sympathize  with  those  who  are  under 
persecution  for  their,  faith  in  Christ ;  so  also,  impliedly,  with  our 
brethren,  neighbours,  or  those  who  have  done  us  or  our  ancestors 
favours,  or  those  who  have  given  or  can  give  some  proof  of  good 
ness,  when  such  have  fallen,  or  shall  fall  into  bondage ;  and,  perhaps, 
with  any  one  giving  proof  of  such  amendment  as  may  merit  a 
higher  condition.  But  in  all  these  cases,  does  not  the  injunction, 
"remember,"  look  to  an  action  resulting  from  principle,  emanating 
from  truth,  or  the  conformity  of  the  person  or  thing  to  be  "re 
membered"  with  the  law  of  God? 

In  the  holy  books,  the  word  nearest  to  a  synonyme  of  our  word 
sympathy,  will  be  found  in  Deut.  vii.  16  :  "  Thou  shalt  consume 
all  the  people  which  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  deliver  thee ;  thine 
eye  shall  have  no'  pity  (DIHp  thehhos)  upon  them,"  (no  sympathy 
for.} 

So,  xix.  13:  "Thine  eye  shall  not  pity  (Dlnfi  thahhos)  him." 
So  xiii.  8  (the  9th  of  the  Hebrew  text) :  "Neither  shall  thine  eye 
pity  him,"  (Dllin  thahhos.) 

This  word,  when  used  in  relation  to  punishment,  is  usually  asso 
ciated  with  the  word  implying  the  "eye,"  as  if  the  feeling  ex 
pressed  thereby  partook  more  of  an  animal  than  a  moral  sensa- 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  241 

tion.  In  G-en.  xlv.  20,  our  translators  finding  our  idea  of  sympathy 
inapplicable  to  inanimate  objects,  expressed  it  by  the  word 
"regard,"  meaning  care,  or  concern.  Now,  since  the  command 
forbids  this  gush  of  feeling  (whether  merely  animal  or  not)  in  the 
cases  cited,  is  it  not  evident  that  the  feeling  inculcated  as  proper 
must  be  the  produce  of  moral  principle,  cultivated  and  sustained 
by  a  truthful  perception  of  the  laws  of  God  ? 

The  feeling  of  sympathy,  commiseration,  or  mercy,  is  inculcated 
in  the  latter  clause  of  Lev.  xlvi.  26.  The  circumstances  were  these : 
— The  descendants  of  Ham  occupied  the  whole  of  Palestine,  and  the 
most  of  the  adjoining  districts.  Those  of  Palestine  had  become 
so  sunken  in  idolatry,  and  the  most  grievous  practices,  counteract 
ing  any  improvement  of  their  race,  that  God,  in  his  providence, 
gave  them  up  to  be  extirpated  from  the  earth,  and  forbid  the 
Israelites  to  have  any  "pity,"  any  sympathy  for  them;  but  to 
slay  them  without  hesitation.  While  those  of  the  adjacent  tribes, 
who  had,  since  the  days  of  Noah,  been  denounced  as  fit  subjects 
of  slavery,  on  the  account  of  their  degradation,  brought  upon  them 
by  similar  causes,  were  again  specified  to  Moses  as  those  whom 
they  were  at  liberty  in  peace  to  purchase,  or  in  war  to  reduce  to 
perpetual  bondage. 

But  such  is  the  deteriorating  effect  of  sin,  even  individuals  of 
the  Israelites  themselves  were  often  falling  into  that  condition. 
But  God  made  a  distinction  between  the  condition  of  these  heathen, 
and  the  Israelites  that  might  thus  fall  into  slavery.  The  slavery 
of  the  heathen  was  perpetual,  while  that  of  these  improvident 
Jews  was  limited  to  six  years,  unless  such  slave  preferred  to  con 
tinue  in  his  state  of  slavery ;  his  kin  at  all  times  having  the  right 
to  redeem  him,  which  right  of  redemption  was  also  extended  to 
the  Jewish  slave  himself.  But  no  such  right  was  ever  extended  to 
the  heathen  slave,  or  him  of  heathen  extraction.  Under  this  state 
of  facts,  the  Jewish  master  is  forbidden  to  use  "rigour"  towards 
his  Jewish  slave  :  "But  over  your  brethren  the  children  of  Israel, 
ye  shall  not  rule  over  one  another  with  rigour."  This  evidently 
inculcates  a  feeling  of  commiseration  for  such  of  their  countrymen 
as  may  have  fallen  into  slavery ;  and  in  conformity  with  such  pre 
cepts,  all  nations,  at  all  times,  who  were  advanced  in  civilization, 
seem  to  have  ever  felt  disposed  to  extend  relief  when  practical. 
Hence  Abraham  extended  relief  to  the  family  of  Lot :  hence  the 
prophet  Obed  succeeded  to  deliver  from  slavery  two  hundred  thousand 
of  the  children  of  Judah  from  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Israel,  dur- 


242  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


ing  the  days  of  Ahaz.  But  in  no  instance  have  such  acts  of  mercy 
been  manifested  by  a  people  sunk  as  low  in  degradation  as  the 
African  races. 

For  several  centuries,  Britain  supplied  slaves  for  other  parts  of 
the  world ;  but,  during  the  time  she  did  so,  she  took  no  steps 
for  the  redemption  of  any ;  and  such  has  invariably  been  the  case 
at  all  times  of  the  world.  All  races  of  men,  sunk  in  the  lowest 
depths  of  degradation,  have  never  failed  to  be  in  slavery  to  one 
another,  and  to  supply  other  nations  with  their  own  countrymen 
for  slaves ;  and,  perhaps,  this  may  be  adduced  as  an  evidence  of 
their  having  descended  to  that  degree  of  degradation  that  makes 
slavery  a  mercy  to  them.  Sympathy  for  them  could  do  them  no 
good ;  because  a  relief  from  slavery  could  not  elevate  them, — could 
do  them  no  good,  but  an  injury.  Hence  such  sympathy  is  for 
bidden.  , 

The  degradation  of  the  children  of  Jacob  became  almost  extreme ; 
yet  they  went  not  into  slavery  until  it  was  accompanied  by  a  fact 
of  like  nature.  Who  shall  say  that  slavery  and  the  slave-trade  in 
Britain  was  not  one  of  the  steps,  under  Divine  providence,  whereby 
God  brought  about  the  elevated  condition  of  the  race  of  man  there  ? 
Who  will  say  that  the  slavery  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt  was  not  to 
them  a  mercy,  and  did  not  bring  to  them  an  ameliorated,  an  ele 
vated  condition,  necessary  to  them  before  the  Divine  law  could  ful 
fil  its  promise  to  Abraham?  But  this  was  a  mere  temporary 
slavery;  whereas  the  slavery  pronounced  on  the  races  of  Ham 
was  through  all  time,  perpetual.  During  the  dark  ages  of  the 
world,  the  races  of  men  generally  became  deteriorated  to  an  extra 
ordinary  extent.  If  our  doctrine  be  true,  slavery  was  a  necessary 
consequence,  and  continued,  until  by  its  amendatory  influence  on 
the  enslaved,  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  God,  they  became  ele 
vated  above  the  level  of  its  useful  operation. 

But,  during  these  periods,  the  slave  in  Africa,  little  sought  after 
by  other  races,  became  of  small  value  to  the  African  master,  and 
was  the  prey,  frequently  an  article  of  food,  even  to  the  slaves  them 
selves,  as  well  as  to  his  own  master ;  and  this  state  of  facts  existed 
until  the  other  races  of  man  had  mostly  emerged  from  slavery  ; 
when  the  African  slave  became  an  article  of  commerce,  and  canni 
balism,  in  consequence,  became  almost  forgotten.  Was  this  no 
blessing  ?  Was  this  not  a  mercy — an  improved  condition  ? 

But,  as  if  God  really  intended,  contrary  to  the  apparent  wishes 
of  some  men,  to  fulfil  his  word,  and  establish  their  condition  of 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


343 


never-ending  bondage,  he  has  suffered  the  slave-trade  with  Africa 
to  be  abolished  among  the  Christian  nations.  The  great  surplus 
of  slaves  in  Africa  has  rendered  them  of  little  value  there  ;  and 
these  anthropophagi  have  again  returned  to  their  ancient  habits, 
giving  proof  that  their  condition  of  slavery,  so  far  as  mortal  eye 
can  see,  is  now  for  ever  past  hope.  The  theological  philosopher 
did  once  hope  that  the  only  commerce  which  could  bring  them 
generally  in  contact  with  Christian  nations  would  have  a  perma 
nent  influence  on  the  character  of  these  people.  But  God,  in  his 
providence,  has  seen  proper  to  order  it  otherwise.  The  slave- 
trade  that  has  been  carried  on  between  them  and  Western  Asia, 
for  more  than  four  thousand  years,  now  the  only  external  influence 
on  them  as  a  people,  may  doubtless  extend  the  standard  of  Islam, 
and  spread  some  few  corruptions  of  its  religious  systems.  But 
neither  the  religion  nor  the  trade  carries  to  the  home  of  these 
savages  a  sufficiency  of  interest  to  excite  new  passions  or  stimu 
late  into  existence  new  habits  or  chains  of  thought. 

"  The  rod  and  reproof  give  wisdom." 

"  A  servant  (l^y  abed,  a  slave)  will  not  be  corrected  by  words  ; 
for  though  he  understand,  he  will  not  answer."  Prov.  xxix.  15,  13. 

In  close,  may  we  inquire  what  benefit  has  resulted  to  the  slave  in 
the  South,—  what  benefit  to  poor,  bleeding  Africa,  from  the  sympathy 
of  the  world  on  the  subject  of  their  slavery?  What,  none  !  If 
none-has-  it  done  them  no  evil?  And  will  ye  continue  to  do 
evil  ?  In  your  weakness,  will  ye  think  to  contend  against  God  ? 


LESSON  XIV. 

THE  abolitionist  will  probably  consent  to  the  truth  of  the  pro 
position  that  God  governs  the  universe.     It   may  be  that  they 
will  also  agree  that  he  is  abundantly  able  to  do  so.     But,  what 
ever  may  be  their  decision,  it  is  one  of  the  revealed  laws  of  God 
that — 

"  Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  any  graven  image,  or  any  like- 
ness  of  any  thing  that  is  in  heaven  above,  or  that  is  in  the  earth 
beneath,  or  that  is  in  the  water  under  the  earth:  thou  shalt  not 
bow  thyself  to  them,  nor  serve  them  ;  for  I,  the  Lord  thy  God,  am 


244  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 

a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children 
unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation  of  them  that  hate  me." 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  man  can  comprehend  God  as  it 
may  be  said  he  comprehends  things  within  the  compass  of  his  own 
understanding.  If  so,  there  would  have  been  no  need  of  revelation. 
Revelation  has  given  us  all  the  knowledge  of  God  necessary  to  our 
welfare  and  happiness.  We  have  not  yet  learned  that  man  has 
become  able  to  go  beyond  revelation  in  his  knowledge  of  God. 

But  suppose  some  one  should  take  it  into  his  fancy  to  say  and 
believe  that  the  Sabbath  was  not  a  Divine  institution,  or  that 
"  Thou  shalt  not  kill,"  "  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery,"  "  Thou 
shalt  not  steal,"  were  mere  human  contrivances,  and  contrary  to 
the  will  and  laws  of  their  God ;  now,  if  the  God  who  has  revealed 
these  laws  to  us  is  the  genuine  God,  would  not  the  god  who  should 
teach  these  forbidden  acts  to  be  lawful  be  a  different  god  ?  And 
although  he  would  exist  only  in  the  imagination  of  those  who  be 
lieved  in  such  a  being,  yet  would  it  be  any  the  less  idolatry  to 
worship  him  than  it  would  be  if  a  block  were  set  up  to  represent 
him  ?  Is  it  any  sufficient  excuse,  because  such  worshipper  acts 
from  ignorance,  or  under  the  influence  of  a  sincere  conscience  f  Is 
it  to  be  presumed  that  those  who  sacrificed  their  children,  and  even 
themselves,  to  a  false  god,  were  not  sincere  ?  Did  not  Paul  act 
with  a  sincere  conscience  when  he  persecuted  the  Christians  ? 

But  can  we  suppose  that  the  real  Jehovah  would,  in  a  revelation 
to  man  of  his  will,  his  law,  recognise  a  thing  as  property  among 
men,  when,  at  the  same  time,  it  was  contrary  to  his  will  and  his 
law  that  such  thing  should  be  property  among  men  ? 

"Neither  shalt  thou  desire  thy  neighbour's  wife  ;  neither  shalt 
thou  covet  thy  neighbour's  house,  his  field,  or  his  man-servant 

(i13J7)  his  male  slave),  or  his  maid-servant  (inpNI  his  female 
slave),  his  ox,  or  his  ass,  or  any  thing  that  is  thy  neighbour's." 
Deut.  v.  21,  the  18th  of  the  Hebrew  text. 

Would  it  not  have  been  just  as  easy  for  God  to  have  said,  if 
such  was  his  will,  "  Thou  shalt  not  have  slaves,"  as  to  have  said  this, 
as  follows?  "And  also  of  the  heathen  shall  ye  buy  slaves,  and 
your  children  shall  inherit  them  after  you,  and  they  shall  be  your 
slaves  for  ever  !" 

Bat  Dr.  Channing,  speaking  of  the  various  exertions  now  making 
in  behalf  of  the  abolition  of  slavery,  gives  us  to  understand  that 
the  Christian  philanthropy  and  the  enlightened  goodness,  (and,  he 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  245 

means,  sympathy  alone,)  now  pouring  forth  in  prayers  and  persua 
sions  from  the  press,  the  pulpit,  from  the  lips  and  hearts  of  devoted 
men,  cannot  fail.  "This,"  he  says,  "must  triumph."  "It  is 
leagued  with  God's  omnipotence."  "It  is  God  himself  acting  in 
the  hearts  of  his  children."  Vol.  ii.  p.  12.  Does  Dr.  Channing 
mean  the  God  who  revealed  the  law  to  Moses  ?  If  so,  has  he 
changed  his  mind  since  that  time  ? 

We  know  that  some  say  that  slavery  is  contrary  to  their  moral 
sense,  contrary  to  their  conscience,  that  under  no  circumstances 
can  it  be  right.  But  if  God  has  ordained  the  institution  of  slavery, 
not  only  as  a  punishment  of  sin,  but  as  a  restraint  of  some  effect 
against  a  lower  degradation,  had  not  such  men  better  cultivate  and 
improve  their  "moral  sense"  and  "conscience"  into  a  conformity 
with  the  law  of  God  on  this  subject  ?  They  cannot  think  that,  on 
the  account  of  their  much  talking,  God  will  change  his  government 
to  suit  their  own  peculiar  views.  In  our  judgment,  their  views 
must  bring  great  darkness  to  the  mind,  and,  we  think,  distress  ;  for 
is  it  not  a  great  distress  itself,  to  be  under  the  government  of  one 
we  think  unjust  ?  We  know  not  but  that  we  owe  them,  as  fellow 
travellers  through  this  momentary  existence,  the  duty  of  trying  to 
remove  from  their  minds  the  cause  of  such  darkness  and  distress. 
Shall  we  counsel  together  ?  Will  you,  indeed,  stop  for  a  moment 
in  company  with  a  brother  ?  Will  you  hear  the  Bible  ?  Will  you, 
through  a  child,  listen  to  the  voice  of  God  ? 

All  agree  that  slavery  has  existed  in  the  world  from  a  very  re 
mote  age.  Wicked  men  and  wicked  nations  have  passed  away, 
but  slavery  still  exists  among  their  descendants.  Good  men  and 
enlightened  nations  have  gone  the  way  of  all  that  is  and  has  been, 
but  slavery  still  abides  on  the  earth.  Upon  the  introduction  of 
Christianity,  men,  who  little  understood  its  spirit,  suddenly  rose  up 
to  abolish  slavery  in  cases  where  the  slave  became  converted  to  its 
faith ;  also  to  cut  loose  the  believing  child  from  all  obligations  of 
obedience  to  the  unbelieving  parent,  and  also  the  husband  or  wife 
from  his  or  her  unbelieving  spouse.  Yet  this  new  doctrine  only 
met  the  condemnation  of  Peter  and  Paul.  And  even  at  the  present 
day,  we  find  men  ready  to  give  up  the  religion  of  Christ,  and  the 
gospel  itself,  rather  than  their  own  notions  concerning  slavery. 

"  If  the  religion  of  Christ  allows  such  a  licence"  (to  hold  slaves) 
"  from  such  precepts  as  these,  the  New  Testament  would  be  the 
greatest  curse  that  was  ever  inflicted  on  our  race."  Barnes  on 


246  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

Slavery,  p.  310.  (He  quotes  the  passage  from  Dr.  Wayland's 
Letters,  pp.  83,  84,  which  work  we  have  not  seen.) 

Such  writers  may  be  conscientious ,  but  their  writings  have  only 
bound  the  slave  in  stronger  chains.  God  makes  his  very  enemies 
build  up  his  throne.  Thus  the  exertions  of  man  are  ever  feeble 
when  in  contradiction  to  the  providence  of  God.  The  great  ad 
versary  has  ever  been  at  work  to  dethrone  the  Almighty  from  the 
minds  of  men.  Abolition  doctrines  are  no  new  thing  in  the  world. 
We  concede  them  the  age  of  slavery  itself,  which  we  shall  doubt 
less  find  as  old  as  sin. 

Stay  thy  haste,  then,  thou  who  feelest  able  to  teach  wisdom  to 
thy  Creator :  come,  listen  to  the  voice  of  a  child ;  the  lessons  of  a 
worm ;  for  God  is  surely  able  to  vindicate  his  ways  before  thee  ! 

When  Adam  was  driven  out  of  paradise,  he  was  told — 

"  Cursed  is  the  ground  for  thy  sake ;  in  sorrow  shalt  thou  eat 
of  it  all  the  days  of  thy  life."  "  Thorns  and  thistles  shall  it  bring 
forth  to  thee ;  and  thou  shalt  eat  the  herb  of  the  field.  In  the 
sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread,  till  thou  return  unto  the 
ground." 

The  expression,  "Thou  shalt  eat  the  herb  of  the  field,"  we  think 
has  a  very  peculiar  significance  ;  for  God  made  "  every  herb  of  the 
field  before  it  grew ;"  and  one  of  the  reasons  assigned  why  the 
"  herb  was  made  before  it  grew,"  we  find  to  be,  that  "  there  was 
not  a  man  to  till  the  ground."  Now.  the  word  to  till  is  translated 
from  the  word  "fhj^  la  ebod,  and  means  to  slave  ;  but  in  English 
we  use  the  term  not  so  directly.  We  use  more  words  to  express 
the  same  idea;  we  say  "to  do  slave-labour  on  the  ground,  instead  of 
to  slave  the  ground,  as  the  expression  stands  in  Hebrew. 

The  doctrine  is,  that  the  herb,  on  which  the  fallen  sinner  is  de 
stined  to  subsist,  was  not  of  spontaneous  growth  ;  it  could  only  be 
produced  by  sweat  and  toil,  even  unto  sorrow.  Sin  had  made  man 
a  slave  to  his  own  necessities ;  he  had  to  slave  the  ground  for  his 
subsistence  ;  and  such  was  the  view  of  David,  who,  after  describing 
how  the  brute  creation  is  spontaneously  provided  for,  says— 

"  He  causeth  the  grass  to  grow  for  the  cattle,  and  herb  for  the 
service  (n"OJ?.S  la  ebodath,  the  slavery)  of  man:  that  he  may 
bring  forth  food  out  of  the  earth."  Ps.  civ.  14. 

This  state  of  being  compelled  to  labour  with  sweat  and  toil  for 
subsistence,  is  the  degree  of  slavery  to  which  sin  reduced  the  whole 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  047 

human  family.     If  we  mistake  not,  the  holy  books  include  the  idea 
that  sin  affects  the  character  of  man  as  a  moral  poison,  producing 
aberrations  of  mind  in  the  constant  direction  of  greater  sins  and  an 
increased  departure  from  a  desire  to  be  in  obedience  to  the  laws  of 
God.     If  we  mistake  not,  the  doctrine  also  is  prominent  that  idle 
ness  is  not  only  a  sin  itself,  but  exceedingly  prolific  of  still  greater 
sins.     This  mild  state  of  slavery,  thus  imposed  on  Adam,  was  a 
constant  restraint  against  a  lower  descent  into  sin,  and  can  be  re 
garded  in  no  other  light  than  a  merciful  provision  of  God  in  pro 
tection  of  his  child,  the  creation  of  his  hand.     If  it  then  be  a  fact 
that  a  given  intensity  of  sin  draws  upon  itself  a  corresponding  con 
dition  of  slavery,  as  an  operating  protection  against  the  final  effect 
of  transgression,  it  will  follow  that  an  increased  intensity  of  sin 
will  demand   an  increased  severity  of  the   condition   of  slavery. 
Thus,  when  Cain  murdered  Abel,  God  said  to  him— 

"Now  art  thou  cursed  from  the  earth,  which  hath  opened  her 
mouth  to  receive  thy  brother's  blood  from  thy  hand.  When  thou 
tillest  (^DJjn  tha  ebod,  thou  slavest)  the  ground,  it  shall  not  hence 
forth  yield  unto  thee  her  strength  :  a  fugitive  and  a  vagabond  shalt 
thou  be  in  the  earth."  *  *  *  "And  the  Lord  set  a  mark  upon 
Cam,  lest  any  finding  him  should  kill  him." 

"Shall  not  yield  unto  thee  her  strength;"  either  the  earth 
lould  be  less  fruitful,  or  from  his  own  waywardness,  it  should  be 
less  skilfully  cultivated  by  him,  or  that  a  profit  from  his  labour 
should  be  enjoyed  by  another;  or,  perhaps,  from  the  joint  opera 
tion  of  them  all.  Thus  an  aggravated  degree  of  sin  is  always 
attended  by  an  aggravated  degree  of  slavery. 

The  next  final  step  we  discover  in  the  history  of  slavery  appears 
m  Ham,  the  son  of  Noah;  and  he  said,  -Cursed  be  Canaan-  a 
servant  of  servants  shall  he  be  unto  his  brethren."  "Servant  of 
servants-  DHSJf  1^  ebed  ebadim,  slave  of  slaves.  This  mode 
of  expression  in  Hebrew  is  one  of  the  modes  by  which  they  ex 
pressed  the  superlative  degree.  The  meaning  is,  the  most  abject 
slave  shall  he  be  to  his  brethren. 

Her^ofore  slavery  has  been  of  less  intensity;  here  we  find  the 
ordination  of  the  master,  and  it  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  he 
is  distinctly  blessed  ! 

"And  he  said,  I  am  Abraham's  servant.  And  the  Lord  hath 
blessed  my  master  greatly,  and  he  is  become  great :  and  he  hath 
given  him  flocks,  and  herds,  and  silver  and  gold,  and  men-ser- 


248  STUDIES   ON   SLAVEEY. 


l[  va  ebadim,  and  male   slaves),  and  maid-servants 

va  shephahoth,  and  female  slaves),  and  camels  and  asses." 
"  And  Sarah,  my  master's  wife,  bare  a  son  to  my  master  when  she 
was  old  :  and  unto  him  hath  he  given  all  that  he  hath." 

And  of  Isaac  it  is  said  — 

"  Then  Isaac  sowed  in  that  land,  and  received  in  the  same  year 
a  hundred  fold  :  and  the  Lord  blessed  him,  and  the  man  waxed 
great,  and  went  forward  and  grew  until  he  became  very  great  : 
for  he  had  possessions  of  flocks,  and  possessions  of  herds,  and 
great  store  of  servants  (ni^JH  va  ebuddah,  and  a  large  family 
of  slaves)  :  and  the  Philistines  envied  him."  We  pray  that  no  one 
in  these  days  will  imitate  those  wicked  Philistines  ! 

And  of  Jacob  it  is  said  — 

"  And  the  man  increased  exceedingly,  and  had  much  cattle,  and 
maid-servants  (nifTfi^l  vu  shephahoth),  and  female  slaves  and 

T   : 

men-servants  (D*"Tpin  va  ebadim,  and  male  slaves),  and  camels, 
and  asses."  "And  the  Lord  said  unto  Jacob,  Return  unto  the 
land  of  thy  fathers,  and  to  thy  kindred  ;  and  I  will  be  with  thee." 

"  He  that  is  despised,  and  hath  a  servant  ("TDJ?  ebed,  a  slave], 
is  better  than  he  that  honoureth  himself,  and  lacketh  bread." 
Prov.  xii.  9. 

"  I  know  that  whatsoever  God  doeth,  it  shall  be  for  ever  ;  nothing 
can  be  put  to  it,  nor  any  thing  taken  from  it  :  and  God  doeth  it 
that  men  should  fear  before  him.  That  which  hath  been  is  now  ; 
and  that  which  is  to  be,  hath  already  been  ;  and  God  requireth 
that  which  is  past."  Eccl.  iii.  14. 


LESSON  XV. 

WE  shall,  in  the  course  of  these  studies,  with  some  particularity 
examine  what  evidence  there  may  be  that  Ham  took  a  wife  from 
the  race  of  Cain ;  and  we  propose  a  glance  at  that  subject  now. 
Theological  students  generally  agree  that,  in  Grenesis  vi.  2, 
"sons  of  God"  mean  those  of  the  race  of  Seth ;  and  that  the 
"daughters  of  men"  imply  the  females  of  the  race  of  Cain.  The 
word  "fair,"  in  our  version,  applied  to  these  females,  does  not 
justly  teach  us  that  they  were  white  women,  or  that  they  were 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  249 


of  a  light  complexion.  It  is  translated  from  the  Hebrew 
tovoth,  being  in  the  feminine  plural,  from  3^  tov,  and  merely  ex 
presses  the  idea  of  what  may  seem  good  and  excellent  to  him  who 
speaks  or  takes  notice  :  it  expresses  no  quality  of  complexion  nor 
of  beauty  beyond  what  may  exist  in  the  mind  of  the  beholder  ;  it 
is  usually  translated  good  or  excellent.  Immediately  upon  the 
announcement  that  these  two  races  thus  intermarry,  God  declares 
that  his  spirit  shall  not  always  strive  with  man,  and  determines 
to  destroy  man  from  the  earth.  Is  it  not  a  plain  inference  that 
such  intermarriages  were  displeasing  to  him  ?  And  is  it  not  also 
a  plain  inference,  these  intermarriages  were  proofs  that  the  "  wick 
edness  of  man  had  become  great  in  the  earth  ?"  Cain  had  been 
driven  out  a  degraded,  deteriorated  vagabond.  Is  there  any  proof 
that  his  race  had  improved  ? 

The  fact  is  well  known  that  all  races  of  animals  are  capable  of 
being  improved  or  deteriorated.  A  commixture  of  a  better  with  a 
worse  sample  deteriorates  the  offspring  of  the  former.  Man  is  no 
exception  to  this  rule.  Our  position  is,  that  sin,  as  a  moral  poison, 
operating  in  one  continued  strain  in  the  degradation  and  deteriora 
tion  of  the  race  of  Cain,  had  at  length  forced  them  down  to  be 
come  exceedingly  obnoxious  to  God.  Intermarriage  with  them 
was  the  sure  ruin  of  the  race  of  Seth  :  it  subjected  them  at  once 
to  the  curses  cleaving  to  the  race  of  Cain.  Even  after  the  flood, 
witness  the  repugnance  to  intermarry  with  the  race  of  Ham  often 
manifested  by  the  descendants  of  Shem  ;  and  that  the  Israelites 
were  forbidden  to  do  so. 

Now,  for  a  moment,  let  us  suppose  that  Ham  did  marry  and 
take  into  the  ark  a  daughter  of  the  race  of  Cain.  If  the  general 
intermixture  of  the  Sethites  with  the  Cainites  had  so  deteriorated 
the  Sethites,  and  reduced  them  to  the  moral  degradation  of  the 
Cainites,  that  God  did  not  deem  them  worthy  of  longer  encumber 
ing  the  earth  before  the  flood,  would  it  be  an  extraordinary  mani 
festation  of  his  displeasure  at  the  supposed  marriage  of  Ham  with 
one  of  the  cursed  race  of  Cain,  to  subject  the  issue  of  such  mar 
riage  to  a  degraded  and  perpetual  bondage  ? 

But  again,  in  case  this  supposed  marriage  of  Ham  with  the  race 
of  Cain  be  true,  then  Ham  would  be  the  progenitor  of  all  the 
race  of  Cain  who  should  exist  after  the  flood  ;  and  such  fact 
would  be  among  the  most  prominent  features  of  his  history.  It 
would,  in  such  case,  be  in  strict  conformity  with  the  usages  of 
these  early  times  for  his  father  to  have  called  him  by  a  name  indi- 


250  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

cative  of  such  fact :  instead  of  calling  him  Ham,  he  would  announce 
to  him  a  term  implying  his  relationship  with  the  house  of  Cain. 
If  such  relation  did  not  exist,  why  did  he  call  him  Canaan  ? 

Some  suppose  that  this  question  would  be  answered  by  saying 
that  the  term  was  applied  to  the  youngest  son  of  Ham ;  but  all 
the  sons  of  Ham  were  born  after  the  flood ;  yet  the  planting  of 
the  vineyard  and  the  drinking  of  the  wine  are  the  first  acts  of 
Noah  which  are  mentioned  after  that  deluge  ;  and  further,  Canaan, 
the  son  of  Ham,  was  most  certainly  not  the  individual  whose  ill- 
behaviour  was  simultaneous  with  and  followed  by  the  curse  of 
slavery.  Have  we  any  proof,  or  any  reason  to  believe,  that  Canaan, 
the  son  of  Ham,  was  then  even  born  ?  But  in  the  catalogue  of 
Noah's  sons,  even  before  the  planting  of  the  vineyard  is  mentioned, 
Ham  is  called  the  father  of  Canaan,  even  before  we  are  told  that 
he  had  any  sons.  Why  was  he  then  so  called  the  father  of  Canaan, 
unless  upon  the  fact  that  by  his  marriage  he  necessarily  was  to 
become  the  progenitor  of  the  race  of  Cain  in  his  own  then  unborn 
descendants  ? 

Under  all  the  facts  that  have  come  down  to  us,  we  are  not  to. 
suppose  that  there  was  any  Cainite  blood  in  Noah,  or  in  Noah's 
wife.  Why  then  did  Ham  choose  to  commemorate  the  race  of 
Cain,  by  naming  his  fourth  son  Cain,  a  term  synonymous  with 
Cainite,  or  Canaanite  ?  And  why  did  the  race  of  Ham  do  the 
same  thing  through  many  centuries,  using  terms  differently  varied, 
sometimes  interchanging  the  consonant  and  vowel  sounds,  as  was 
common  in  the  language  they  used  ?  These  variations,  it  is  true, 
when  descending  into  a  language  so  remote  as  ours,  might  not  be 
noticed,  yet  the  linguist  surely  will  trace  them  all  back  to  their 
root,  the  original  of  "  Cain." 

God  never  sanctions  a  curse  without  an  adequate  cause  ;  a  cause 
under  the  approbation  of  his  law,  sufficient  to  produce  the  effect 
the  curse  announces.  The  conduct  of  Ham  to  his  father  proved 
him  to  possess  a  degraded,  a  very  debased  mind ;  but  that  alone 
could  not  produce  so  vital,  so  interminable  a  change  in  the  moral 
and  physical  condition  of  his  offspring.  And  where  are  we  to  look 
for  such  a  cause,  unless  in  marriage  ?  And  with  whom  could  such 
an  intermarriage  be  had,  except  with  the  cursed  race  of  Cain  ?  The 
ill-manners  of  Ham  no  doubt  accelerated  the  time  of  the  announce 
ment  of  the  curse,  but  was  not  the  sole  cause.  The  cause  must 
have  previously  existed ;  and  the  effect  would  necessarily  have 
been  produced,  even  if  it  had  never  been  announced. 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  251 


But  again,  the  condition  of  slavery  imposed  on  the  descendants 
of  Ham,  subjected  them  to  be  bought  and  sold ;  they  became  ob 
jects  of  purchase  as  property,  for  this  quality  is  inseparable  from 
the  condition  of  the  most  abject  slavery.  Now  the  very  name 
Cain  signifies  "one  purchased."  "I  have  gotten  a  man  from  the 
Lord."  The  word  "gotten,"  in  the  original,  is  the  word  his  mother 
Eve  gave  her  son  for  his  name,  "  Cain."  I  have  purchased,  &c., 
evidently  shadowing  forth  the  fact  that  his  race  were  to  be  subjects 
of  purchase. 

The  history  of  man  since  the  flood  is  accompanied  with  a  suffi 
ciency  of  facts  by  which  we  are  enabled  to  determine  that  the  de 
scendants  of  Ham  were  black,  and  that  the  black  man  of  Africa 
is  of  that  descent. 

"  And  the  Lord  set  a  mark  upon  Cain,  lest  any  finding  him  would 
kill  him." 

The  word  "mark"  is  translated  from  DlN  oth;  its  signification 
is,  a  mark  by  which  to  distinguish;  a  memorial  or  warning ;  mi 
raculous  sign  or  wonder,  consisting  either  in  word  or  deed,  whereby 
the  certainty  of  any  thing  future  is  foretold  or  known  ;  and  hence 
it  partook  of  the  nature  of  a  prophecy.  In  the  present  case  it 
was  the  mark  of  sin  and  degradation  ;  it  was  the  token  of  his 
condition  of  slavery,  of  his  being  a  vagabond  on  the  earth.  It 
distinguished  his  rank  of  inferiority  and  wickedness,  proclaiming 
him  to  be  the  man  whose  greatest  punishment  was  to  live  and  bear 
his  burthens,  below  all  rivalship. 

Hence  its  protective  influence.  Now,  by  the  common  consent 
of  all  men,  at  all  times,  what  has  been  the  mark  of  sin  and  degra 
dation?  Were  we  even  now,  among  ourselves,  about  to  describe 
one  of  exceedingly  wicked  and  degraded  character,  should  we  say 
that  he  looked  very  white  ?  Or  should  we  say  that  his  character 
was  black  ?  And  so  has  been  the  use  of  the  term  since  language 
has  been  able  to  send  down  to  distant  times  the  ideas  and  asso 
ciations  of  men. 

"  Their  visage  is  blacker  than  a  coal.' 

"  Our  skin  was  black." 

"  I  am  black :  astonishment  hath  taken  hold  on  me." 

"  For  though  thou  wash  thee  with  nitre,  and  take  thee  much 
soap,  yet  thine  iniquity  is  marked  before  me,  saith  the  Lord  God." 

And  who  shall  say  that  the  wicked,  disgusting  mode  of  life,  the 
practices  deteriorating  the  physical  and  mental  powers  imputed  to 
the  Cainites,  do  not  constitute  what  some  may  call  a  philosophical 


252  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


cause  of  the  physical  development  of  the  mark  of  sin  ?  Does  not 
our  own  observation  teach  us  that  a  single  lifetime,  spent  in  the 
practice  of  some  degrading  sins,  leaves  upon  the  person  the  evi 
dence,  the  mark,  the  proof  of  such  practice  ?  We  are  under  no 
compulsion  of  evidence  or  belief  to  suppose  that  the  mark  set  upon 
Cain  was  the  product  of  a  moment ;  but  the  gradual  result  of  his 
wicked  practices,  as  a  physical  and  moral  cause. 

But  allow  the  fact  to  have  been  that,  in  the  case  of  Cain,  the 
physical  change  was  instantaneous,  God  had  the  power  to  institute 
in  a  moment  what  should  thereafter  be  produced  only  by  progres 
sion  or  inheritance.  God  created  man ;  but,  thereafter,  man  was 
born  and  became  mature  through  the  instrumentality  only  of  phy 
sical  causes. 

"  The  shew  of  their  countenance  doth  witness  against  them ;  and 
they  declare  their  sin  as  Sodom,  they  hide  it  not."  Isa.  iii.  9.  In 
fact,  "The  faces  of  them  all  gather  blackness."  Ndhum  ii.  10. 

But  we  know  that  the  descendants  of  Ham  were  black ;  nor  is 
it  stated  that  any  personal  mark  was  placed  upon  him,  although 
the  name  applied  to  his  first-born  son,  "  Cush,"  signifies  that  he 
was  black,  giving  proof  that  the  colour  was  inherited ;  but  from 
whom  ?  Not  from  his  father  ! 

"Can  the  Ethiopian  ('$*\3  Cushi,  the  Cushite,  the  Hack  man) 
change  his  skin?" 

The  evidence  forced  on  the  mind  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
descendants  of  Ham  were  black,  not  by  the  progressive  operation 
of  the  laws  of  God  on  the  course  of  sin  which  they  doubtless 
practised,  but  that  they  were  so  at  birth, — consequently  an  inherit 
ance  from  parentage.  And  a  further  conclusion  also  is,  that  the 
wife  of  Ham  must  have  been  black,  of  the  race  of  Cain,  inheriting 
his  mark,  and  that  that  mark  was  black. 

A  further  proof  that  Ham  took  to  wife  a  daughter  of  the  race 
of  Cain  is  found  in  the  traces  of  evidence  indicating  her  person, 
who  she  was.  Lamech,  of  the  race  of  Cain,  had  a  daughter, 
Naamah  ;  her  name  is  given  as  the  last  in  the  genealogy  of  Cain. 
Why  did  the  inspired  penman  think  it  necessary  to  send  her  name 
down  to  us  ?  Why  was  the  genealogy  of  Cain  given  us,  unless  to 
announce  some  fact  important  for  us  to  know  ?  If  this  whole  race 
were  to  be  cut  off  by  the  flood,  we  see  nothing  in  the  genealogy 
teaching  any  lesson  to  the  descendants  of  Noah.  Why  was  the 
particular  line  from  Cain  to  Naamah  selected,  unless  she  was  the 
particular  object  designed  to  be  pointed  out  ?  Hundreds  of  other 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  253 

genealogies,  commencing  in  Cain  and  terminating  in  some  one  just 
at  the  coming  of  the  flood,  existed;  but  not  written  down  nor 
transmitted,  for  the  obvious  reason  that  such  list  could  be  of  no 
benefit  to  posterity.  Are  we  not,  then,  led  to  believe  that  there 
was  some  design  in  the  preservation  of  the  one  terminating  in 
Naamah  ?  But  this  genealogy  could  only  be  preserved  through 
the  family  of  Noah ;  through  whom  we  also  have  a  genealogy  of 
the  line  from  Seth,  terminating  in  Noah's  youngest  son.  These 
two  stand  in  a  parallel  position,  at  the  foot  of  each  separate  list. 
But  it  is  so  extremely  unusual  for  ancient  genealogies  to  give  the 
name  of  a  female,  who  had  brothers,  that  it  becomes  strong  evi 
dence,  when  such  catalogue  terminates  in  the  name  of  such  a 
female,  that  she  personally  was  the  individual  on  whose  account  the 
catalogue  was  formed.  Is  not  this  consideration,  and  the  fact  that 
ijfc  could  only  be  preserved  by  the  family  of  Noah,  evidence  that 
they  attached  sufficient  importance  to  it  to  make  its  preservation 
by  them  a  desirable  object  ? 

Inasmuch  as  Naamah  belonged  to  a  race  distinct  from  that  of 
Seth,  could  the  family  of  Noah  have  any  desire  to  preserve  her 
lineage  from  any  other  cause  than  that  of  her  having  become  a 
member  of  that  family? — in  which  case  the  cause  of  its  preserva 
tion  is  obvious,  and  a  thing  to  have  been  expected.  On  any  other 
state  of  facts,  would  they  have  carefully  handed  down  the  gene 
alogy,  so  far  as  we  are  informed,  of  a  mere  uninteresting  woman 
of  the  cursed  race  of  Cain,  and  neglected  to  have  given  us  the 
name  and  genealogy  of  Noah's  wife,  of  the  more  holy  race  of 
Seth? 

The  presumption  then  being  that  she  did  become  the  wife  of 
one  of  Noah's  sons,  the  first  inquiry  is,  to  which  was  she  attached  ? 
A  sufficient  answer  to  this  question,  for  the  present  moment,  Avill 
be  found  in  the  fact  that  Ham  was  doomed  to  perpetual  and  bitter 
slavery,  while  his  brothers  were  blessed  and  ordained  to  be  his 
masters.  Now  since  an  amalgamation  of  the  races  of  Seth  and 
Cain  was  deemed  a  most  grievous  sin  before  the  flood,  if  Japheth 
or  Shem  had  either  of  them  taken  Naamah  to  wife,  it  would  be 
past  understanding  to  find  them  both  highly  blessed  and  made  the 
masters  of  Ham. 

But  a  more  direct  evidence  that  Ham  did  take  to  wife  Naamah, 
of  the  race  of  Cain,  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  descendants 
of  Ham  commemorated  her  name  by  giving  it  to  persons  of  their 


254  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

race,  as  descendants  might  be  expected  to  do,  who  wished  to  keep 
it  in  remembrance.  The  name  of  her  mother  also  is  found  in 
similar  use. 

These  names  are  varied,  often,  from  the  original  form,  as  are  a 
great  number  of  proper  names  found  in  use  among  the  ancient 
nations.  These  words  we  shall  have  hereafter  occasion  particularly 
to  examine.  We  shall  merely  add,  that  in  the  marriage  of  Ham 
and  Naamah  we  may  find  a  reasonable  explanation  for  the  other 
wise  inexplicable  speech  of  Lamech  to  his  two  wives, — since  such 
marriage  would  have  produced,  what  we  find  was  produced,  the 
ruin  and  degradation  of  Ham, — we  might  say,  his  moral  death,  his 
extinguishment,  from  the  race  of  Seth.  Some  commentators  de 
duce  the  name  Naamah  from  the  root  "  nam,"  and  consequently 
make  it  signify  beautiful.  We  give  it  quite  a  different  origin, 
which  we  shall  explain  at  large  elsewhere.  It  is  to  be  expected 
that  men  will  differ  in  opinion  as  to  the  historical  facts  of  these 
early  days.  Some  have  made  Naamah  a  pure  saint ;  some,  the 
wife  of  Noah ;  some,  of  her  brother,  Tubal-Cain ;  some  make  her 
the  heathen  goddess  Venus ;  others,  the  mother  of  evil  spirits. 

Thus  diversified  have  been  the  speculations  of  men.  We  pre 
sent  our  view,  because  we  believe  it  better  sustained  by  Scripture 
and  known  facts  than  any  we  have  examined :  but  we  deem  it  no 
way  important  in  the  justification  of  the  ways  of  God  to  man ; 
for,  whatever  the  truth  may  be,  this  we  know,  that  the  curse  of 
slavery  was,  if  Scripture  be  true,  unalterably  uttered  against  the 
race  of  Ham, — in  which  condition,  as  a  people,  they  ever  have 
been  and  still  are  found:  a  condition  so  well  adapted  to  their 
physical  and  mental  organization,  the  result  of  ages  spent  in  bad, 
degenerating  habits,  that  when  held  in  such  relation  by  the  races 
of  Japheth  or  Shem,  the  race  of  Ham  is  found  gradually  to  emerge 
from  its  native  brutality  into  a  state  of  comparative  elevation  and 
usefulness  in  the  world ;  a  condition  without  which  they,  as  a  race, 
have  never  been  found  progressing,  but  ever  exhibiting  the  desire 
of  wandering  backward,  in  search  of  the  life  of  the  vagabond,  in 
the  midst  of  the  wilderness  of  sin; — unless  in  this  author,  Dr. 
Channing,  we  find  an  exception ;  for  he  more  than  intimates  that 
he  found  the  negro  women  of  Jamaica  rather  to  excel  the  white 
ones  of  New  England.  We  believe,  according  to  his  own  taste 
and  judgment,  what  he  said  was  true ;  but  we  also  believe  his 
taste  was  very  depraved,  and  his  judgment  of  no  value  on  this 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  355 

subject ;  yet  we  feel  less  astonishment  at  the  degenerate  sons  of 
Seth  before  the  flood,  on  the  account  of  their  admiration  of  the 
black  daughters  of  the  race  of  Cain ;  and  we  should  feel  it  a  sub 
ject  of  curious  solicitude,  if  Dr.  Channing's  taste  and  judgment 
on  this  subject  were  to  become  the  standard  among  his  disciples, 
whether  they  will,  by  their  practice,  illustrate  the  habit  of  these 
antediluvians ! 


256  STUDIES  ON  SLAVERY. 


LESSON  I. 

IN  the  course  of  the  present  study,  we  propose  to  notice  the 
doctrine  and  action  of  the  church  as  connected  with  the  subject  of 
slavery ;  and  to  examine  what  were  the  tenets  and  conduct  of 
those  men  who  claimed  to  be  governed  by  the  immediate  teachings 
of  Christ  and  his  apostles. 

In  this  investigation,  we  must  apply  to  the  records  of  the  Catho 
lic  Church,  although  we  are  aware  that,  in  the  minds  of  some,  strong 
and  bitter  prejudice  may  exist  against  these  records  ;  that  some  will 
say  the  canker  of  corruption  had  destroyed  the  very  kernel  of 
Christianity  in  that  church. 

Bower,  a  Protestant  author,  in  the  preface  to  his  "  History  of 
the  Popes,"  7  vols.  quarto,  says — 

"  We  must  own  the  popes  to  have  been,  generally  speaking,  men 
of  extraordinary  talents,  the  ablest  politicians  we  read  of  in  history  ; 
statesmen  fit  to  govern  the  world,  and  equal  to  the  vast  dominion 
they  grasped  at ;  a  dominion  over  the  minds  as  well  as  the  bodies 
and  estates  of  mankind ;  a  dominion,  of  all  that  ever  were  formed, 
the  most  wide  and  extensive,  as  knowing  no  other  bounds  but  those 
of  the  earth."  Page  10,  vol.  i.  3d  edition,  London,  1750. 

Mr.  Bower  was  a  very  learned  man,  had  been  educated  a  Catho 
lic,  was  professor  of  rhetoric,  history,  and  philosophy  in  the  uni 
versities  of  Rome,  Fermo,  and  Macerata,  and  counsellor  of  the 
Inquisition  at  Rome.  He  commenced  a  work  to  prove  the  pope's 
infallibility  and  supremacy.  But  he  proved  to  himself  the  adverse 
doctrine.  He  resigned  his  professorships  and  places,  removed  to 
London,  abjured  the  Catholic  religion,  and  wrote  the  work  quoted. 
It  is  a  work  of  great  labour  and  merit,  and  well  worth  the  attention 
of  the  curious  in  these  matters.  But  if  is  proper  here  to  remark, 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERS'.  257 

that  Mr.  Sale,  in  his  preface  to  his  translation  of  the  Koran,  has 
made  a  severe,  yet  an  unexplained  attack,  on  the  character  of  this 
writer ;  but  whatever  may  have  been  the  provocation,  we  have  to 
view  him  through  his  book.  It  is  not  always  possible  for  a  just 
degree  of  merit  to  be  awarded  those  who  lived  in  former  times. 
We  cannot  always  learn  the  circumstances  influencing  them,  nor 
do  we  often  throw  our  minds  oack  into  their  peculiar  position,  by 
which  alone  can  we  be  able  to  give  a  just  value  to  those  influences. 

History  has  handed  us  a  few  of  the  acts  of  him  who  lived  a  thou 
sand  years  ago  ;  by  them  we  judge,  as  though  he  lived  to-day,  acts 
which  prejudice  may  have  distorted,  or  favour  presented  to  the  lens 
of  time.  We  must  look  to  the  condition  of  things  at  the  time  of 
the  act ;  to  the  probable  effect  under  such  condition,  and  to  the 
real  effect  as  developed  by  time. 

Pope  Benedict  IX.  ascended  the  throne  in  A.  D.  1033.  He  is 
very  unfavourably  known  to  history.  During  his  time  there  was  a 
very  powerful  faction  raging  against  him  at  Rome,  by  which,  at 
one  time,  he  was  driven  into  exile.  He  is  said  to  have  sold  the 
popedom,  because  his  debaucheries  made  him  an  object  of  con 
tempt,  and  he  wished  to  be  free  from  restraint;  .but  in  1041,  four 
years  before  he  abandoned  the  papal  chair,  he  established,  at  a 
council  in  Aquitaine,  the  Treuga  Dei,  whence  it  has  been  said 
that,  during  three  days  in  the  week,  he  permitted  any  man  to 
commit  all  sorts  of  crimes,  even  murder,  free  from  church  censure, 
&c.  By  the  Treuga  Dei,  for  any  wrong  done  him,  no  person  was 
permitted  to  revenge  himself,  from  Wednesday  evening  to  Monday 
morning :  construed,  as  above,  by  some,  that  he  might  do  so  dur 
ing  the  remaining  portion  of  the  week. 

The  facts  were,  all  Europe  was  still  groping  in  the  ignorance  of 
the  darkest  ages ;  yet  Christianity  had  been  firmly  established  as 
a  system  of  faith.  The  church  had  always  forbidden  a  revengeful 
redress  of  individual  wrongs  ;  and,  for  such  acts,  her  priests  ever 
threatened  excommunication.  But  these  charges  had  little  or  no 
effect  during  these  still  semi-idolatrous  and  barbarous  ages. 

The  kings  were  but  heads  of  tribes,  too  weak  to  restrain  their 
nobles,  as  the  nobles  were  their  vassals :  under  such  a  state  of 
things,  each  one  strove  to  redress  his  own  wrongs.  This  led  to 
constant  murders,  and  every  kind  of  crime.  Each  state  was  con 
stantly  agitated  by  civil  commotions  and  bloodshed.  Great  moral 
changes  are  advanced  by  short  steps.  The  church  took  this  evil  in 

hand,  and  hence  the  Treuga  Dei,  a  word  used  in  the  Latin  of  that 

17 


258  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

day,  a  corruption  from  the  Gothic  triggua,  and  now  found  in  the 
Spanish  and  Italian  "  tregua,"  and  from  whence  our  word  truce. 
The  curse  of  God  was  pronounced  against  all  oifenders,  and  death 
followed  a  discovery  of  the  crime.  It  was  thought  to  be  a  Divine 
suggestion,  and  hence  the  name.  All  consented  to  yield  to  it  as 
such,  and  it  was  found  to  have  a  powerful  effect.  In  1095,  it  was 
warmly  sustained  *in  the  Council  of  Clermont,  under  Urban  II., 
and  extended  to  all  the  holy-days,  and  perpetually  to  clerks,  monks, 
pilgrims,  merchants,  husbandmen,  and  women,  and  to  the  persons 
and  property  of  all  who  would  engage  in  crusades,  and  against  all 
devastations  by  fire.  It  was  re-established  in  1102,  by  Paschal  II. ; 
in  1139,  by  Innocent  II.  ;  in  1180,  by  Alexander  III.  ;  nor  would 
it  be  difficult  to  show  that  the  Treuga  Dei,  the  Truce  of  &od,  of 
Benedict  IX.,  was  one  of  the  most  important,  during  the  primary 
steps  towards  the  civilization  of  Europe;  such  was  the  state  of 
society  in  that  age  of  the  world.  But  we  acknowledge  that  indi 
viduals  of  the  Roman  church,  some  of  whom  obtruded  themselves 
into  the  priesthood,  have  been  very  corrupt  men.  But  have  not 
similar  obtrusions  happened  in  every  other  Christian,  Protestant, 
or  worthy  association  of  men  ?  Have  we  not  seen,  among  the 
apostles,  a  Judas,  betraying  the  Saviour  of  the  world  ?  Ananias 
and  Sapphira,  attempting  to  swindle  even  God  himself?  Of  confi 
dence  betrayed  among  men,  need  we  point  to  the  tragical  death  of 
Servetus,  which  has  for  ever  placed  the  bloody  mark  of  murder  on 
the  face  of  Calvin  ? 

And  may  we  not  find  sometimes,  among  ourselves,  lamentable 
instances  of  corruption,  which,  in  the  blackness  of  their  character, 
defy  the  powers  of  the  pen  ?  Instances,  where,  recreant  to  every 
honest,  noble,  and  holy  feeling,  individuals,  hidden,  as  they  think, 
beneath  the  robes  of  righteousness,  have  carried  poverty  and  dis 
tress  to  the  house  of  the  widow,  trampling  on  the  rights — may  be, 
the  life — of  the  orphan,  and  even  using  the  confidence  of  a  brother 
to  betray  and  rob  him  ? 

Nor  is  it  a  matter  of  any  exultation  to  the  broken,  the  wounded 
mind,  that,  in  all  such  instances,  unless  the  stink  of  insignificance 
shall  totally  exclude  such  criminal  from  the  page  of  history,  what 
ever  may  be  the  cloak  he  may  wear,  truth  will  eventually  for  ever 
convert  it  into  the  burning  shirt  of  Nessus. 

But,  if  you  call  a  dog  a  thief,  he  feels  no  shame.  Generations 
of  enforced  improvement  and  the  grace  of  God  alone  can  wipe 
out  the  stains  of  an  evil  heart.  Nor  can  man  alter  this  his  des- 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  259 

tiny.  Therefore,  in  all  ages,  and  among  all  men,  the  tares  and 
the  wheat  have  been  found  in  the  same  field.  What  presumption, 
then,  if  not  blasphemy,  in  opposition  to  the  word  of  Jehovah,  to 
say,  that  the  looming  light  of  truth  never  dawned  upon  this  night 
of  time  until  the  advent  of  Luther  or  Knox ! 

In  presenting  the  action  and  records  of  the  church  and  early 
fathers,  we  have  freely  adopted  the  sentiments  and  facts  digested 
by  Bishop  England,  to  whom,  we  take  occasion  here  to  say,  we 
feel  as  much  indebted,  as  though  we  had  merely  changed  a  par 
ticle  or  deleted  what  was  irrelevant  to  our  subject.  Nor  do  we 
know  of  higher  honour  we  can  do  this  great  and  good  man  than 
to  lend  our  feeble  mite  to  extend  the  knowledge  of  his  research, 
his  purity,  and  great  learning ;  and  if,  in  the  continuation  of  this 
his  unfinished  study,  amid  the  pagan  superstitions  and  bigoted 
thousands  of  Islam  in  benighted  Asia,  the  conflicts  of  the  Cross 
and  the  Wand  of  Woden,  during  the  dark  ages  of  continental 
Europe,  we  may  be  suffered  to  feel  the  elevating  influence  of  his 
life-giving  mantle,  we  shall  also  surely  feel  elevated  hopes  of  a 
high  immortality. 

But,  it  may  be  well  here  to  remark,  that  we  have  no  sectarian 
church  to  sustain ;  that  we  belong  to  no  religious  order ;  nor  have, 
as  yet,  subscribed  to  any  faith  formed  by  man.  And  while  we  ad 
vocate  the  cause  of  religion  and  truth,  yielding  ourselves  in  all 
humility  to  the  influence  of  Divine  power,  we  feel  as  certain  of  his 
final  notice,  as  though  we  had  marched  through  under  a  thousand 
banners  at  the  head  of  the  world.  We  have  all  confidence  in  the 
word  of  him  who  hath  said  that  even  the  sparrow  falleth  not 
without  his  notice. 

But,  it  is  said,  when  disease  infuses  bile  into  the  organs  of 
sight,  the  objects  of  vision  have  a  peculiar  tinge :  to  blend  pre 
vious,  sometimes  numerous,  impressions  into  one  perception,  is  a 
common  action  of  the  mind.  Thus  the  present  idea  is  often  modi 
fied  by  those  that  have  preceded ;  and  hence  we  may  conclude 
how  often  the  mind  is  under  the  insensible  influence  of  prejudice. 
Upon  these  facts  she  has  enthroned  her  power. 

But  he  who  has  schooled  his  mind  in  the  doctrines  of  a  tranquil 
devotion,  who  habituates  himself  to  view  all  things  past,  present, 
and  to  come,  through  the  medium  of  cause  and  effect,  as  the 
mere  links  of  one  vast  chain,  reaching  from  Omnipotence  to  the 
present  action,  may  well  rise  superior  to  the  tumult  of  passion  or 
the  empire  of  prejudice.  And  to  the  utilitarian  permit  us  to 


260  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


say,  that  prejudice  is  peculiarly  unsuited  to  the  age  of  moral  and 
physical  improvement  in  which  we  live.  Let  no  one  say,  the  spirit 
of  improvement  has  a  deep  root,  and  its  lofty  hop  es  cannot  be 
subverted  ;  that  the  most  penetrating  philosophy  cannot  prescribe 
its  limits,  the  most  ardent  imagination  reach  its  bounds  :  rather 
let  him  reflect  that  all  improvement  must  for  ever  follow  the  foot 
steps  of  truth;  and  that  the  peculiar  province  of  prejudice  is  to 
set  us  aside  from  its  path. 

With  such  views,  let  us  for  a  moment  consider  the  circumstances 
attending  the  early  ages  of  the  Roman  church ;  and  let  us  note 
that,  although  her  priests  were  but  men,  whether  her  records  are 
not  as  reliable  as  if  some  of  her  peculiarities  had  been  different, 
or  she  had  been  called  by  a  different  name.  But  we  shall  not 
quote  or  pursue  these  records  down  to  so  late  a  day  as  the  Pro 
testant  Reformation.  We  hope,  therefore,  that  the  Protestant 
will  say  that  the  records  we  quote  are,  most  decidedly,  the  records 
of  the  church. 


LESSON  II. 

THE  moral  condition  of  man  was  peculiar.  To  a  great  extent 
the  religious  systems  of  the  Old  World  had  been  analyzed  by  the 
intelligent ;  they  no  longer  gave  confidence  to  the  mind.  The 
sanctity  of  the  temples  was  dissipated  by  the  mere  speculations  of 
philosophy,  and  the  gods  of  idolatry  tottered  on  their  pedestals. 

The  nations  of  the  earth  were  brought  in  subjection,  in  slavery, 
to  the  feet  of  imperial  Rome  ;  and  their  gods,  being  presented  face 
to  face,  lost  their  divinity  by  the  rivalship  of  men. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  moral  world  when  Christianity 
was  introduced  to  mankind. 

The  old  religions  pretended  to  give  safety  by  bargain  of  sacri 
fice,  by  penance,  and  payment,  but  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ 
taught  that  salvation  and  safety  were  the  free  gift  of  God. 

The  history  of  man  proves  the  fact  that  he  has  ever  been  dis 
posed  to  purchase  happiness  on  earth  and  felicity  in  heaven  by  his 
ow#  acts,  or  by  the  merit  of  his  condition ;  and  hence,  we  always 
find  that  a  corrupted  Christianity  for  ever  borders  on  the  confines 
of  idolatry.  Nor  is  it  difficult  to  show  how  this  easily  runs  into 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


261 


all  the  wild  extravagancies  of  human  reason,  or,  rather,  human 
ignorance ;  while  the  simplicity  of  truth  tends  to  a  calm  submis 
sion,  and  a  desire  of  obedience  to  the  will  and  laws  of  the  only 
true  God.  The  one  was  the  religion  of  the  government  of  men, 
of  show,  of  political  power,  and  expediency;  the  other  is  of 
heaven,  of  truth.  "My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world." 

The  barbarians  of  northern  Europe  and  western  Asia,  while  yet 
only  illumined  by  some  faint  rays  of  the  Christian  light,  feeling 
from  habit  the  want  of  the  external  pomp  and  the  governing  con 
trol  of  a  religious  power,  in  a  half-savage,  half-heathen  state  of 
mind,  were  disposed  to  prostrate  themselves  at  the  feet  of  the 
chief  priest  of  Rome. 

In  the  year  312,  under  the  pontificate  of  Melchiades,  (by  the 
Greeks  called  Miltiades,)  the  Emperor  Constantine  established  the 
Christian  church  by  law.  Thus  sustained,  it  became  at  once  the 
pool  in  which  ambition  and  crime  sought  to  cleanse  their  robes. 
Yet,  beneath  its  waters  were  priceless  pearls.  Torn  by  schism, 
sometimes  by  temporal  misrule,  the  church  languished, — but  lived. 
For  several  centuries  the  future  became  a  mere  variation  of  the 
past.  The  ways  of  God  are  indeed  inscrutable.  A  flaming  meteor 
in  the  east  now  agitated  the  mind.  Like  the  insects  of  twilight, 
thousands  marshalled  under  the  crescent  light  of  the  prophet. 
The  disciples  of  Mohammed  swept  from  the  earth  the  churches  at 
Antioch  and  Alexandria,  suddenly  made  inroads  on  Europe,  con 
quered  Spain,  and  were  in  step  to  overleap  the  Pyrenees  and  Alps. 
Let  us  step  aside,  and  reconnoitre  their  host ! 

The  object  of  the  Arabian,  Saracen,  and  Moorish  warriors  was 
the  propagation  of  their  creed.  The  alternative  was  proposed  to 
all,— its  embrace,  or  tribute;  if  rejected,  the  chance  of  war. 
Persia  and  Syria  were  quickly  subdued.  Egypt  and  Cyprus  gave 
way,  A.  D.  645.  The  slave  of  Jews  or  Christians  seldom  rejected 
freedom  in  favour  of  the  cross ;  if  so,  he  was  reduced  to  the  level 
of  the  vilest  brute.  The  free  were  either  put  to  death,  or,  as  a 
great  favour,  permitted  to  be  slaves.  Thus  the  Christian  master 
and  slave  were  often  in  a  reversed  condition  under  Mohammedan 
rule.  Sicily  and  the  whole  northern  Africa  substituted  the  crescent 
for  the  Cross ;  and  in  quick  succession  Spain  was  invaded  and  the 
throne  of  Roderick  overturned.  Toledo  yielded  to  Mousa  ;  and 
Floury,  lib.  xli.  part  25,  says — "  He  put  the  chief  men  to  death, 
and  subjugated  all  Spain,  as  far  as  Saragossa,  which  he  found  open. 
He  burned  the  towns,  he  had  the  most  powerful  citizens  crucified, 


262  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

he  cut  the  throats  of  children  and  infants,  and  spread  terror  on 
every  side." 

Italy  was  in  consternation  ;  the  church  trembled,  and  Constan 
tinople  was  threatened.  Crossing  the  Pyrenees,  A.  D.  719,  they 
poured  down  upon  France,  met  Charles,  the  father  of  Pepin,  and 
Eude  of  Aquitaine,  who  slew  Zama,  and  compelled  his  troops  to 
raise  the  siege  of  Toulouse ;  but,  recovering  confidence,  their  in 
cursions  were  frequent  and  bloody ;  and  the  historians  of  that  day 
announce  that,  upon  one  occasion  alone,  they  lost  370,000  men 
upon  the  fields  of  France.  But  these  reverses  were  the  bow  of 
hope  to  the  Peninsula.  Alphonsus  struck  a  blow,  and  in  one  day 
retook  many  towns  and  released  from  bondage  ten  thousand 
Christian  slaves.  These  exertions  were  continued  with  intermitted 
success ;  and,  like  the  retiring  thunder  of  the  retreating  storm, 
the  rage  of  battle  became  less  terrific  and  at  more  distant  pe 
riods  ;  but  the  standard  of  Islam  still  continued  to  affrighten  the 
world,  alternately  flaming  its  red  glare  over  the  Peninsula  to  the 
mountains  of  France  and  the  plains  of  Italy,  and  until  embattled 
Europe,  excited  to  Croisade,  dispelled  its  power  on  the  banks  of 
the  Jordan. 

But,  let  us  return.  Aistulphus  appears  amid  this  flame  of  war. 
His  Lombards  threaten  extermination,  and  brandish  the  sword  at 
the  very  gates  of  Home.  Pepin  had  now  usurped  the  throne  of 
the  Franks.  He  demanded  the  confirmation  of  the  church  ;  and, 
in  return,  promised  protection  to  the  "  Republic  of  God."  Rome 
saw  the  prospect  of  her  ruin,  with  searching  eyes  looked  for  aid, 
and  confirmed  Pepin  in  his  secular  power ;  who,  in  gratitude,  drove 
for  a  time  the  Lombards  from  Italy,  and  deposited  the  keys  of 
the  conquered  cities  on  the  altar  of  Saint  Peter. 

The  Roman  emperors  had  now  long  since  removed  their  court 
to  Constantinople.  Their  power  over  western  Europe  vacillated 
with  the  strife  of  the  times.  Charlemagne  now  appears  kissing 
the  steps  of  the  throne  of  the  church.  Again  he  appears,  master 
of  all  the  nations  composing  the  Western  Empire,  and  of  Rome ; 
and,  on  Christmas-day,  in  the  year  800,  Leo  III.  placed  the  crown 
of  the  Roman  emperors  on  the  head  of  the  son  of  Pepin.  But, 
as  yet,  the  act  of  crowning  by  the  pope  was  a  mere  form. 

Fifty  years  had  scarcely  sunk  in  the  past,  when  the  Emperor 
Basilius  expelled  Photius  from  the  patriarchal  see  of  his  capital. 
He  was  charged  with  having  been  the  tool  of  the  Emperor  Michael. 
He  claimed  supremacy  over  the  pope  of  Rome.  Hadrian  had  now 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


263 


ascended  the  papal  chair,  867.  Jealous  of  the  bold  spirit  of  Pho- 
tius,  his  excommunication  was  recorded,  and  Ignatius  installed  in 
his  see. 

But  the  Greeks  and  Bulgarians,  jealous  for  their  native  priesthood, 
demanded  by  what  authority  the  see  of  Rome  claimed  jurisdiction 
over  the  Old  and  NewEpirus,  Thessaly,  and  Dardania,  the  country 
now  called  Bulgaria.  For  more  than  four  centuries  there  had 
been  occasional  jealousies  between  these  two  churches ;  certain 
articles  of  faith  continued  subjects  of  difference ;  and  the  ques 
tions  of  temporal  and  spiritual  precedence  made  them  ever  watch 
ful.  History  records  that,  as  early  as  606,  Phocas,  having 
ascended  the  imperial  throne,  treading  upon  the  dead  bodies  of 
the  Emperor  Mauritius,  his  children  and  friends,— Cyriacus,  the 
patriarch,  exposed  to  his  view  the  enormity  of  his  crimes,  and 
most  zealously  exhorted  to  repentance.  The  supremacy  of  order 
and  dignity  was  instantly  granted  to  the  patriarch  of  Rome,  in 
the  person  of  Boniface  III.  But  his  successors,  their  historians 
say,  wisely  refused,  disclaimed  the  favour  of  Phocas,  but  claimed 
it  as  a  Divine  right  derived  from  St.  Peter.  Thus  commenced 
and  was  made  final  the  severance  of  the  Greek  and  Roman 
churches. 

But  the  loss  of  spiritual  rule  in  the  east  was  accompanied  by  an 
enlargement  of  temporal  power  in  the  west.  Upon  the  death  of 
Hadrian,  John,  the  son  of  Gundo,  succeeded  to  the  papal  chair ; 
and,  upon  the  demise  of  Lewis  II.,  (876,)  his  uncles,  Lewis,  king  of 
Germany,  and  Charles  the  Bald,  king  of  France,  were  rivals  for 
the  vacant  throne.  Charles  and  Hadrian  were  ever  at  variance. 
But,  seizing  upon  the  moment,  because  he  was  more  ready  at  hand, 
or  more  yielding  to  his  wishes,  John  invoked  him  instantly  at 
Rome,  received  him  with  loudest  acclamations,  and  crowned  him 
emperor,  just  seventy-five  years  to  a  day  from  the  elevation  of 
Charlemagne  to  the  Western  Empire. 

Upon  this  occasion,  Pope  John  announced  that  he  had  elected 
him  emperor  in  conformity  to  the  revealed  will  of  God ;  that  his 
act  of  crowning  him  made  him  such ;  and  that  the  sceptre,  under 
God,  was  his  free  gift.  This  new  doctrine  was  assented  to  by 
Charles,  and  ever  after  claimed  as  one  of  the  powers  of  the  pope 
of  Rome.  Thus  the  church  of  Rome  became  wholly  separated 
from  the  Eastern  Empire,— "freely  losing  its  hold  on  a  decayed 
tree,  to  graft  itself  upon  a  wild  and  vigorous  sapling."  D'AuUgne. 
Eutropius,  the  Lombard,  informs  us  of  the  rich  presents  made  to 


264  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

St.  Peter  for  these  favours  of  the  pope,  and  that  the  emperor 
ceded  to  him  the  dukedoms,  Benevento  and  Spoleti,  together  with 
the  sovereignty  of  Rome  itself. 

Thus  we  have  seen  why  and  how  the  brawny  shoulders  of  the 
idolatrous  children  of  the  north  elevated  to  the  throne,  thus  how 
the  Franks  established  the  temporal  power,  of  the  popes  of  Rome  ; 
yet,  perhaps,  little  was  foreseen  how  this  state  of  things  was 
destined,  in  the  course  of  events,  to  elevate  the  church  of  Rome, 
and  the  power  of  its  pontiffs,  to  a  supremacy  of  all  temporal 
government.  It  could  not  have  been  foreseen  how  the  genius  of 
Hildebrand  (Pope  Gregory  VII.)  should,  two  hundred  years  after, 
carry  into  full  accomplishment,  by  mere  words  of  peace,  "  what 
Marius  and  Caesar  could  not  by  torrents  of  blood." 

But  corruption,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  necessarily  followed 
such  a  connection  of  church  and  state.  It  matters  not  to  whom, 
nor  in  what  age, — give  churches  temporal  power,  and  they  are 
liable  to  be  corrupt. 

But  the  church  was  still  a  fountain  from  which  the  living  waters 
were  dispensed  to  mankind.  Instances  of  personal  wickedness  may 
have  been  more  or  less  common ;  yet  the  spirit  of  truth  found  it  a 
focal  residence,  and  diffused  its  light  to  the  world. 

The  Christian  church  is  not  the  contrivance  of  man,  whose 
works  pass  away,  but  of  God,  who  upholds  what  he  creates,  and 
who  has  given  his  promise  for  its  duration.  Its  object  is  to  satisfy 
the  religious  wants  of  human  nature,  in  whatever  degree  that 
nature  may  be  developed  ;  and  its  efficacy  is  no  greater  for  the 
learned  than  for  the  unlearned  ;  for  the  exalted  of  the  earth,  than 
for  the  slave. 


LESSON  III. 

IT  is  said  all  nature  swarms  with  life.  But  every  animal,  in 
some  way,  preys  upon  his  fellow.  Even  we  cannot  move  our  foot 
without  becoming  the  means  of  destruction  to  petty  animals  capa 
ble  of  palpitating  for  hours,  may  be  days,  in  the  agonies  of  death. 
There  is  no  day  upon  this  earth,  in  which  men,  and  millions  of 
other  animals,  are  not  tortured  in  some  way,  to  the  fullest  extent 
of  life. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  265 

Let  us  look  at  man  alone ;  poor  and  oppressed ;  tormented  by 
injustice,  and  stupified  to  lethargy  ;  writhing  under  disease,  or  tor 
tured  by  his  brethren  !  Jlecollect  his  mental  pains  !  The  loss  of 
friends,  and  the  poison  of  ingratitude  ;  the  rage  of  tyranny,  and 
the  slow  progress  of  justice;  the  brave,  the  high-minded,  the 
honest,  consigned  to  the  fate  of  guilt ! 

Dive  into  the  dungeon,  or  the  more  obscure  prison-house  of 
penury.  See  the  aged  long  for  his  end,  and  the  young  languish  in 
despair ;  talents  and  virtue  in  eternal  oblivion  :  see  malice,  ven 
geance,  and  cruelty  at  their  work,  while  they  propagate  every 
hour  ;  for  severity  begets  its  kind,  and  hate  begets  hate. 

Look  where  you  will,  the  heart  is  torn  with  anguish  ;  the  soul 
is  saddened  by  sorrow.  All  things  seem  at  war  ;  all  one  vast 
abortion.  Such  is  the  rugged  surface  ;  and  the  eye  sees  no  golden 
sands,  no  precious  gems  gleaming  from  beneath  the  blackened 
waters*  of  human  suffering.  These  things  are  so  ;  creation  has 
grown  up  ;  and  human  life  can  never  effect  one  tremble  of  the  leaf 
on  which  it  has  found  its  residence. 

But  the  Christian  philosopher  views  these  evidences  of  a  great 
moral  catastrophe  without  madness.  He  perceives  that  sin  has 
sunk  man  into  degradation,  slavery,  and  death.  He  comprehends 
his  own  weakness,  and  trusts  in  God. 

But  there  is  a  man,  with  all  these  facts  before  him,  who  rages. 
He  makes  war  on  the  providence,  and  determines,  as  if  to  renovate 
the  work,  of  the  Almighty.  Is  he  a  man  of  a  single  idea  ?  If 
not,  let  him  make  a  better  world ;  and,  while  he  is  thus  employed, 
let  us  resume  our  subject. 

Slavery,  either  voluntary  or  involuntary,  whether  the  immediate 
result  of  crime  or  of  mental  and  physical  degradation,  is  equally 
the  consequent  of  sin.  Let  us  consider  how  far  its  existence  is 
sustained  by  the  laws  of  justice,  of  religion,  and  of  God. 

Our  word,  God,  is  pure  Saxon,  signifying  "perfectly  good;" 
"  God  is  good."  "And  God  saw  every  thing  that  he  had  made, 
and,  behold,  it  was  very  good." 

Suppose  the  laws  of  Japan  permit  voluntary  slavery,  as  did 
those  of  Moses.  (See  Exod.  xxi.  5  ;  also  Lev.  xxv.  47.)  Suppose 
an  African  negro,  of  the  lowest  grade,  destitute  and  nakvd,  volunta 
rily  finds  himself  in  that  island,  where  the  poor,  free  inhabitants 
scarcely  sustain  life  by  the  most  constant  toil.  The  negro  finds  no 
employment.  He  can  neither  buy,  beg,  nor  steal ;  starvation  is 
at  hand.  He  applies  to  sell  himself,  under  the  law  of  the  country, 


266  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

a  slave  for  life.  Is  not  slavery,  in  this  case,  a  good,  because  life 
is  a  greater  good  than  liberty  ?  Liberty  is  worth  nothing  in  oppo 
sition  to  life.  Liberty  is  worth  nothing  without  available  posses 
sions  to  sustain  it.  The  preservation  of  life  is  the  highest  law. 
The  law  of  God,  therefore,  would  be  contradictory,  if  it  forbid  a 
man  to  sell  himself  to  sustain  his  life ;  and  the  justice  and  pro 
priety  of  such  law  must  be  universal  and  eternal,  so  far  as  it  can 
have  relation  with  the  condition  of  man  upon  this  earth. 

But,  "  What  is  life  without  liberty  ?"  said  a  beggar-woman  !  He, 
who  thinks  life  without  liberty  worth  nothing,  must  die  if  he  have 
no  means  to  sustain  his  liberty.  Esther  entertained  no  such 
notion :  "  For  we  are  sold,  I  and  my  people,  to  be  destroyed  and 
slain,  and  to  perish.  But  if  we  had  been  sold  for  bond-men,  and 
bond-women,  I  had  held  my  tongue."  JEsth.  vii.  4. 

Nor  has  such  ever  been  the  notion  of  the  church.  Bergier  says, 
Diet.  Theo.,  Art.  Esclava — 

"  That  civil  liberty  became  a  benefit,  only  after  the  establish 
ment  of  civil  society,  when  man  had  the  protection  of  law,  and  the 
multiplied  facilities  for  subsistence ;  that,  previous  to  this,  abso 
lute  freedom  would  be  an  injury  to  a  person  destitute  of  flocks, 
herds,  lands,  and  servants." 

"  The  common  possession  of  all  things  is  said  to  be  of  the 
natural  law  ;  because  the  distinction  of  possessions  and  slavery 
were  not  introduced  by  nature,  but  by  reason  of  man,  for  the 
benefit  of  human  life ;  and  thus  the  law  of  nature  is  not  changed 
by  their  introduction,  but  an  addition  is  made  thereto."  St.  Thomas 
Aquinas^  1,  2,  q.  94  a  95  ad  2. 

And  the  same  father  says  again,  2,  2  q.  57  a  3  ad  2 — "  This 
man  is  a  slave,  absolutely  speaking,  rather  a  son,  not  by  any 
natural  cause,  but  by  reason  of  the  benefits  which  are  produced ; 
for  it  is  more  beneficial  to  this  one  to  be  governed  by  one  who  has 
more  wisdom,  and  the  other  to  be  helped  by  the  labour  of  the 
former.  Hence  the  state  of  slavery  belongs  principally  to  the 
law  of  nations,  and  to  the  natural  law,  only  in  the  second  degree, 
not  in  the  first." 

But  a  man  having  the  natural  right  to  sett  himself  proves  that 
he  has  the  same  right  to  buy  others.  The  one  follows  the  other. 
But,  suppose  the  laws  of  Japan  do  not  permit  voluntary  slavery 
for  life,  or,  rather  that  they  have  no  law  on  the  subject ;  but  that 
they  have  a  law,  that  whosoever  proves  himself  to  be  so  degraded 
that  he  cannot,  or  will  not  sustain  himself,  but  is  found  loitering, 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  267 

begging,  or  stealing,  shall  be  forcibly  sold  a  slave  for  life, — is  not 
the  same  good  effected  as  in  the  other  case,  although  the  indi 
vidual  may  be  too  debased  to  perceive  it  himself?  And  is  it  diffi 
cult  to  perceive,  that  the  same  deteriorating  causes  have  produced 
both  cases  ?  The  doctrine  of  the  church  is  that  "  death,  sick 
ness,  and  a  large  train  of  what  is  called  natural  evils,  are  con 
sidered  to  be  the  consequences  of  sin.  Slavery  is  an  evil,  and  is 
also  a  consequence  of  sin."  Bishop  England,  p.  23. 

And  St.  Augustine  preached  the  same  doctrine,  as  long  ago  as 
the  year  425.  See  his  book,  "  Of  the  City  of  God,"  liber  xix. 
cap.  15.  He  says — "  The  condition  of  slavery  is  justly  regarded 
as  imposed  on  the  sinner.  Hence,  we  never  read  slave  (as  one 
having  a  master)  in  Scripture  before  the  just  Noe,  by  this  word, 
punished  the  sin  of  his  son.  Sin,  not  nature,  thus  introduced  the 
word." 

And  St.  Ambrosej  bishop  of  Milan,  A.  D.  390,  in  his  book  on 
"Elias  and  Fasting"  c.  5,  says — "  There  would  be  no  slavery  to 
day  had  there  not  been  drunkenness." 

And  so,  St.  John  Chrysostom,  bishop  of  Constantinople,  A.  D. 
400,  Horn.  29,  in  Gen.:  "Behold  brethren  born  of  the  same 
mother  !  Sin  makes  one  of  them  a  servant,  and,  taking  away  his 
liberty,  lays  him  under  subjection." 

The  very  expression,  "Cursed  be  Canaan,  a  servant  of  servants 
shall  he  be  to  his  brethren,"  most  distinctly  shows  the  "sentence  to 
have  been  the  consequent  of  sin,  and  especially  so  when  compared 
with  the  blessing  bestowed  upon  the  two  brothers,  in  which  they 
are  promised  the  services  of  him  accursed. 

Pope  Gelesius  I.,  A.  D.  491,  in  his  letter  to  the  bishops  of  the 
Picene  territory,  states,  "  slavery  to  have  been  the  consequence 
of  sin,  and  to  have  been  established  by  human  law." 

St.  Augustine,  lib.  xix.  cap.  16,  "  On  the  City  of  God,"  argues 
at  length  to  show  "  that  the  peace  and  good  order  of  society,  as 
well  as  religious  duty,  demand  that  the  wholesome  laws  of  the 
state  regulating  the  conduct  of  slaves  should  be  conscientiously 
observed." 

"  Slavery  is  regarded  by  the  church  *  *  *  not  to  be  in 
compatible  with  the  natural  law,  to  be  the  result  of  sin  by  Divine 
dispensation,  to  have  been  established  by  human  legislation;  and, 
when  the  dominion  of  the  slave  is  justly  acquired  by  the  master, 
to  be  lawful,  not  in  the  sight  of  the  human  tribunal  only,  but  also 
in  the  eye  of  Heaven."  Bishop  England,  page  24. 


268  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

But  again,  in  the  works  already  quoted,  "De  Civitate  Dei,"  St. 
Augustine  says,  liber  xix.  caput  15,  that,  "  although  slavery  is 
the  consequence  of  sin,  yet  that  the  slavery  may  not  always  light 
upon  the  sinful  individual,  any  more  than  sickness,  war,  famine,  or 
any  other  chastisement  of  this  sinful  world,  whereby  it  may  often 
happen  that  the  less  sinful  are  afflicted,  that  they  may  be  turned 
more  to  the  worship  of  God,  and  brought  into  his  enjoyment,"  and 
refers  to  the  case  of  Daniel  and  his  companions,  who  were  slaves  in 
Babylon,  and  by  which  captivity  Israel  was  brought  to  repentance. 

In  cap.  16,  "he  presents  to  view  the  distinction  of  bodily  em 
ployment  and  labour  between  the  son  and  the  slave ;  but  that  each 
are  equally  under  the  master's  care  ;  and  as  it  regards  the  soul, 
each  deserved  a  like  protection,  and  that  therefore  the  masters 
were  called  patres  familias,  or  fathers  of  households;  and 
shows  that  they  should  consult  for  the  eternal  welfare  of  their 
slaves  as  a  father  for  his  children ;  and  insists  upon  the  weight 
and  obligation  of  the  master  to  restrain  his  slaves  from  vice,  and 
to  preserve  discipline  with  strict  firmness,  buf  yet  with  affection ; 
not  by  verbal  correction  alone,  but,  if  requisite,  corporeal  chastise 
ment,  not  merely  for  the  punishment  of  delinquency,  but  for  a 
.salutary  monition  to  others." 

And  he  proceeds  to  show  "  that  these  things  become  a  public 
duty,  since  the  peace  of  the  vicinage  depends  upon  the  good  order 
of  its  families,  and  that  the  safety  of  the  state  depends  upon  the 
peace  and  discipline  of  all  the  vicinage." 

This  author  also  shows,  from  the  etymology  of  the  word  "servus," 
that,  according  to  the  law  of  nations  at  the  time,  the  conqueror 
had  at  his  disposal  the  lives  of  the  captives.  If  from  some  cause 
he  forbore  to  put  some  of  them  to  death,  then  such  one  was  servati, 
or  servi,  that  is,  kept  from  destruction  or  death,  and  their  lives 
spared,  upon  the  condition  of  obedience,  and  of  doing  the  labours 
and  drudgery  of  the  master." 

And  we  may  again  inquire  whether,  when  prisoners  taken  in 
war,  under  circumstances  attending  their  capture  by  which  the 
captor  feels  himself  entitled  to  put  them  to  death, — it  is  not  a 
great  good  to  the  captured  to  have  their  lives  spared  them,  and 
they  permitted  to  be  slaves  ?  The  answer  will  again  turn  upon 
the  question,  whether  life  is  worth  any  thing  upon  these  terms  ? 
And  whatever  an  individual  may  say,  the  world  will  answer  like 
Esther.  Thus  far  slavery  is  an  institution  of  mercy  and  in  favour 
of  life. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  26C 

We  close  this  lesson  by  presenting  the  condition*  of  slavery 
among  the  Chinese,  and  their  laws  and  customs  touching  the 
subject. 

M.  De  Guignes,  who  traversed  China  throughout  its  whole  extent, 
observing  with  minuteness  and  philosophical  research  every  thing 
in  relation  to  its  singular  race,  does  not  believe  slavery  existed 
there  until  its  population  had  become  overloaded,  when,  as  a  par 
tial  relief  from  its  miseries,  they  systematically  made  slaves  of 
portions  of  their  own  race. 

He  says,  that  in  ancient  times,  "it  is  not  believed  that  there 
were  slaves  in  China,  except  those  who  were  taken  prisoners  in 
war,  or  condemned  to  servitude  by  the  laws.  Afterwards,  in  times 
of  famine,  parents  were  frequently  reduced  to  the  necessity  of 
selling  their  children.  This  practice,  originated  in  the  pressure 
of  necessity,  has  continued  to  exist,  and  even  become  common. 
*  *  *  A  person  may  also  sell  himself  as  a  slave  when  he  has 
no  other  means  of  succouring  his  father  ;  a  young  woman,  who 
finds  herself  destitute,  may  in  like  manner  be  purchased  with  her 
own  consent. 

"  The  prisoners  of  war  are  the  slaves  of  the  emperor,  and  ge 
nerally  sent  to  labour  on  his  land  in  Tartary.  The  judges  have 
the  power  to  pass  the  sentence  of  slavery  on  culprits  such  as  are 
sold  at  public  auction ;  slaves  also  who  belong  to  persons  whose 
property  is  confiscated,  are  sold  to  the  highest  bidder  by  public 
outcry."  See  work  as  quoted  by  Edin.  Encyc.,  Article,  "  China." 


LESSON  IV. 

THE  titles  which  divines  and  canonists  have  considered  to  be 
good  and  valid  for  the  possession  of  slaves,  are  purchase,  inherit 
ance,  gift,  birth,  slaves  made  in  war,  and  sentenced  for  crime ; 
but,  in  all  cases,  the  title  is  vitiated  when  not  sustained  by  the 
civil  law.  Yet  the  civil  law  may  be  repealed,  or  ameliorated,  so 
that  prisoners  taken  in  war  or  crime  may  not  be  subject  to  death 
or  servitude,  in  which  case  the  validity  of  the  title  follows  in  the 
footsteps  of  the  civil  law  ;  but  these  conditions  primarily  exist,  as 
perpetual  as  the  condition  of  man.  The  civil  law,  by  its  interven 
tion,  merely  diverts  the  action  during  its  rule. 


270  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


But,  in  all  cases  of  a  secondary  title,  the  validity  follows  the 
character  of  the  previous  holding,  as  110  man  can  sell,  give,  or 
leave  by  inheritance  a  better  title  than  that  which  he  has.  The 
question  thus  runs  to  the  origin  of  what  gives  a  good  title,  to  wit, 
the  condition  that  enforces  one  to  be  sold,  or  to  sell  himself,  a 
slave,  in  favour  of  life.  True,  Blackstone,  Montesquieu,  and 
others  of  less  note,  contend  that  no  man  has  a  right  to  sacrifice  hit* 
liberty  ;  and  what  is  their  argument  ?  They  make  an  assumption, 
where  there  is  no  parallel,  "  that  liberty  is  of  equal  worth  to  life;" 
but  before  their  argument  is  good,  they  must  show  that  liberty  is 
of  more  value  than  life  :  for  surely  a  man  may  barter  an  equal  for 
an  equal.  They  cry,  "  God  gave  all  men  liberty."  Even  that  is 
a  fiction.  The  truth  is,  God  gave  no  man  liberty,  only  upon  con 
ditions. 

But  to  show  that  life  is  of  more  value  than  liberty,  we  need 
only  observe  that  even  with  the  loss  of  liberty  there  is  hope — 
hope  of  change,  of  liberty,  and  of  the  means  of  sustaining  it ;  and 
such  hopes  have  often  been  realized.  There  is  no  truth  in  the 
proposition  that  liberty  is  of  equal  value  (or  rather  superior)  to 
life.  The  doctrine  therefore  is,  that  man,  in  his  natural  state,  is 
the  master  of  his  own  liberty,  and  may  dispose  of  it  as  he  sees 
proper  in  favour  of  life ;  that  he  may  be  deprived  of  it  by  force, 
in  consequence  of  crime,  or  from  his  not  being  able  to  sustain  it ; 
and  in  all  cases  where  liberty  has  become  of  less  value  than  life, 
and  both  cannot  be  sustained,  the  one  may  be  properly  exchanged 
for  the  safety  of  the  other.  And  upon  this  principle,  in  those 
countries  where  the  parent  had  the  right,  by  their  law,  to  put  to 
death  his  own  children,  he  also  had  the  right  to  sell  them  into 
slavery ;  and  further,  by  natural  law,  where  the  parent  cannot  sus 
tain  the  life  of  his  child,  where  civil  law  gives  him  no  power  over 
its  life,  he  yet,  in  favour  of  life,  may  sell  him  into  slavery. 

Natural  law  recognises  the  principle  that  the  child,  of  right,  is 
subject  to  the  condition  of  the  parent ;  and  in  these  enfeebled  con 
ditions  of  man,  for  sake  of  more  certainty,  the  civil  law  usually 
acknowledges  the  maternal  line.  It  acknowledges  the  paternal 
line  only  when  the  elevated  condition  forms  a  presumption  of  equal 
certainty. 

The  Divine  law  recognises  a  good  title  to  hold  slaves  among  all 
people.  The  Divine  grant  to  hold  slaves  was  not  an  "  especial 
permit  to  the  Hebrews."  Abimelech  gave  slaves  to  Abraham: 
ha 3  his  title  been  bad,  Abraham  could  not  have  received  them. 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


271 


Bethuel  and  Laban  gave  slaves  to  their  daughters.  None  of  these 
were  Hebrews,  yet  they  held  slaves  by  a  good  title ;  for  the  very 
act  of  acceptance,  in  all  these  cases,  is  proof  tfcat  the  title  was 
good. 

Besides,  the  Divine  law  itself  instructed  the  Israelites  to  buy 
slaves  of  the  surrounding  nations.  See  Lev.  xxv.  44.  Can  there 
be  a  stronger  proof  of  the  purity  of  a  title,  than  this  gives  of  the 
title  by  which  the  "  nations  round  about"  held  slaves  ?  The  same 
law  which  permitted  the  Israelites  to  buy  slaves  of  the  "  heathen 
round  about,"  also  permitted  the  "  heathen  round  about"  to  hold 
slaves,  because  it  acknowledges  their  title  to  be  good. 

By  an  inquiry  into  the  history  of  these  "  heathen  round  about," 
their  religion,  civil  condition,  their  manners  and  customs,  as  well 
as  the  final  state  to  which  they  arrived,  we  may  form  some  idea 
how  a  good  title  to  hold  slaves  and  to  sell  them  arose  among  them ; 
and  since  the  laws  of  God  are  everlasting,  and  always  applicable 
to  every  case  where  all  the  circumstances  are  similar,  we  may 
reasonably  conclude  that  the  same  race,  or  any  other  race,  then, 
or  at  any  other  period  of  time,  to  whom  the  same  descriptions  will 
apply,  will  also  be  found  attended  with  the  same  facts  in  regard  to 
slavery. 

The  conclusion  therefore  is,  that  from  such  a  people,  who  have 
a  good  right  to  hold  and  sell  slaves,  other  people,  whose  civil  laws 
permit  them  to  do  so,  may  purchase  slaves  by  a  good  title. 

It  may  not  then  be  wholly  an  idle  labour  to  compare  the  history 
and  race  of  these  "heathen  round  about,"  with  the  history,  race, 
and  present  condition  of  those  African  heathen  who  have  from 
time  immemorial  held  and  sold  slaves. 

But  it  being  shown  that  the  Divine  sanction  to  hold  slaves,  did, 
at  one  time,  exist,  it  devolves  on  them,  who  deny  its  religious 
legality,  now  to  prove  that  the  sanction  had  been  withdrawn. 


LESSON  V. 

WE  proceed  to  prove,  by  a  variety  of  documents,  that  the  Church 
of  Christ  did,  at  all  times  during  its  early  ages,  consider  the  exist 
ence  of  slavery  and  the  holding  of  slaves  compatible  with  a  reli 
gious  profession  and  the  practice  of  Christian  duties. 

It  is  first  in  order  to  present  the  sermons  of  St.  Paul  and  St. 
Peter  direct  upon  this  subject.  Having  heretofore  quoted  them, 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


we  now  merely  repeat  the  references,  and  ask  for  their  perusal  : 
See  1  Cor.  vii.  20-24  ;  Epli.  vi.  5-9  ;  Col.  iii.  22  to  iv.  1  ; 
1  Tim.  vi.  1-14  ;  Tit.  ii.  9-15  ;  Philemon  entire,  and  1  Pet.  ii.  18-25. 
These  scriptures  distinctly  teach  the  doctrine  of  the  Christian 
church.  But  it  remains  to  see  what  was  the  practice  that  grew 

up  under  it. 

Upon  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  mind  cannot  well 
ceive  how  the  apostles  could  have  avoided,  from  time  to  time,  meet 
ing  together  for  the  purposes  of  consultation  and  agreement  among 
themselves  as  to  the  particulars  of  their  future  course  ;  and  that 
such  was  the  fact,  we  have  in  evidence,  Acts  i.  15-26,  where  they 
did  thus  meet,  and  elected  Matthias  to  fill  the  vacancy  in  their 
number.     Also,  Acts  ix.  26-31,  where  Paul  was  received  by  them 
and  sent  forth  as  an  apostle;  but  the  book  in  question  only  gives 
us  the  outlines  of  what  they  did.     Now,  there  is  found  among  the 
ancient  records  of  the  church  what  is  called  "The  Canons  of  the 
Apostles,"  which,  if  not  actually  written  by  them,  is  still  known 
to  be  in  conformity  with  their  doctrine,  as  developed  in  their  own 
writings  and  the  earliest  usages  of  the  church^ 
Among  these,  the  canon  Ixxxi.  is  the  following  : 
Servos  in  clerum  provehi  sine  voluntate  dominorum,  non  permit- 
timus,  ad  eorumquipossidentmolestiam,  domorum  enim  eversionem 
talia  efficiunt.     Siquando  autem,  etiam  dignus  servus  visus  sit,  qm 
ad  gradum  eligatur,  qualis  noster  quoque  Onesimus  visus  est,  et 
domini  concesserint  ac  liberaverint,  et  ocdibus  emisermt,  fiat. 

We  do  not  permit  slaves  to  be  raised  to  clerical  rank  without  the 
will  of  their  masters,  to  the  injury  of  their  owners.  For  such  con 
duct  produces  the  upturning  of  houses.  But  if,  at  any  time, 
even  a  slave  may  be  seen  worthy  to  be  raised  to  that  degree,  as 
even  our  Onesimus  was,  and  the  masters  shall  have  granted  and 
given  freedom,  and  have  sent  them  forth  from  their  houses,  let  it  , 

°  This  is  the  first  of  a  series  of  similar  enactments,  and  it  should 
be  observed  that  it  recognises  the  principle  of  the  perfect  domi 
nion  of  the  master,  the  injury  to  his  property  and  requires  the 
very  legal  formality  by  which  the  slave  was  liberated  and  f 

emancipated.  , 

The  slave  had  the  title,  without  his  owner's  consent,  to  the 
mon  rights  of  religion  and  the  necessary  sacraments      In  using 
these,  no  injury  was  done  to  the  property  of  Ins  owner  ;  but  he  had 
no  claim  to  those  privileges  which  would  diminish  h,s  value  to  the 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  273 

owner,  or  would  degrade  the  dignity  conferred,  and  which  could 
not  be  performed  without  occupying  that  time  upon  which  his 
owner  had  a  claim. 

There  are  eight  other  books  of  a  remote  antiquity,  known  as 
"  The  Constitutions  ascribed  to  the  Apostles,"  said  to  be  compiled 
by  Pope  Clement  L,  who  was  a  companion  of  the  apostles.  It  is 
generally  believed  that,  though  Clement  might  have  commenced 
such  a  compilation,  he  did  not  leave  it  in  the  form  which  it  now 
holds,  but,  like  the  Canons  of  the  Apostles,  the  exhibition  of  disci 
pline  is  that  of  the  earliest  days. 

In  book  iv.  ch.  5,  enumerating  those  whose  offerings  were  to  be 
refused  by  the  bishops  as  unworthy,  we  have,  among  thieves  and 
other  sinners, 

(Qui)  famulos  suos  dure  accipiunt  et  tractant ;  id  est,  verberibus, 
aut  fame  afficiunt,  aut  crudeli  servitute  premunt. 

They  who  receive  and  treat  their  slaves  harshly  ;  that  is,  who  whip 
or  famish  them,  or  oppress  them  with  heavy  drudgery. 

There  is  no  crime  in  having  the  slave,  but  cruelty  and  oppres 
sion  are  criminal. 

In  the  same  book,  ch.  11  regards  slaves  and  masters. 
De  famulis  quid  amplius  dicamus,  quam  quod  servus  habeat 
benevolentiam  erga  dominum  cum  timore  Dei,  quamvis  sit  impius, 
quamvis  sit  improbus,  non  tamen  cum  eo  religione  consentiat. 
Item  dominus  servum  diligat,  et  quamvis  praestet  ei,  judicet  tameri 
esse  aaqualitatem,  vel  quatenus  homo  est.  Qui  autem  habet  domi 
num  Christianum,  salvo  dominatu,  diligat  eum,  turn  ut  dominum, 
turn  ut  fidei  consortem  et  ut  patrem,  non  sicut  servus  ad  oculum 
serviens  sed  sicut  dominum  amans,  ut  qui  sciat  mercedem  famula- 
tus  sui  a  Deo  sibi  solvendam  esse.  Sirniliter  dominus,  qui  Chris 
tianum  famulum  habet,  salvo  farnulatu,  diligat  eum  tanquam  filium, 
et  tanquam  fratrem  propter  fidei  communionem. 

What  further,  then,  can  we  say  of  slaves,  than  that  the  servant 
should  have  benevolence  towards  his  master,  with  the  fear  of  God, 
though  he  should  be  impious,  though  wicked;  though  he  should  not 
<>.ven  agree  with  him  in  religion.  In  like  manner,  let  the  master 
love  his  slave,  and  though  he  is  above  him,  let  him  judge  him  to  be 
his  equal  at  least  as  a  human  being.  But  let  him  who  has  a  Chris 
tian  master,  having  regard  to  his  dominion,  love  him  both  as  a 
master,  as  a  companion  in  the  faith,  and  as  a  father,  not  as  an 
eye-servant,  but  loving  his  master  as  one  who  knows  that  he  will  re 
ceive  the  reward  of  his  service  to  be  paid  by  G-od.  So  let  the 

IB 


274  STUDIES   ON  SLAVERY. 

master  who  lias  a  Christian  slave,  saving  the  service,  love  him  as  a 
son  and  as  a  brother,  on  account  of  the  communion  of  faith. 

Ne  amaro  animo  jubeas  famulo  tuo  aut  ancillse  eidem  Deo  con- 
fidentibus :  ne  aliquando  gemant  adversus  te,  et  irascatur  tibi 
Deus.  Et  vos  servi  dominis  vestris  tanquam  Deum  reprsesentan- 
tibus  subditi  estote  cum  sedulitate  et  metu,  tanquam  Domino,  et 
non  tanquam  hominibus. 

'Do  not  command  your  man-servant  nor  your  woman-servant 
having  confidence  in  the  same  God,  in  the  bitterness  of  your 
soul;  lest  they  at  any  time  lament  against  you,  and  God  be  angry 
with  you.  And  you  servants  be  subject  to  your  masters,  the  repre 
sentatives  of  G-od,  with  care  and  fear,  as  to  the  Lord,  and  not  to 
men. 

In  the  eighth  book,  ch.  33,  is  a  constitution  of  SS.  Peter  and 
Paul,  respecting  the  days  that  slaves  were  to  be  employed  in 
labour,  and  those  on  which  they  were  to  rest  and  to  attend  to 
religious  duties. 

Stephen  I.,  who  was  the  pontiff  in  253,  endeavoured  to  preserve 
discipline,  and  set  forth  regulations  to  remedy  evils. 

Accusatores  vero  et  accusationes,  quas  sseculi  leges  non  recipi- 
unt,  et  antecessores  nostri  prohibuerunt,  et  nos  submovemus. 

We  also  reject  these  accusers  and  charges  which  the  secular  laws 
do  not  receive,  and  which  our  predecessors  have  prohibited. 

Soon  after  he  specifies  : 

Accusator  autem  vestrorum  nullus  sit  servus  aut  libertus. 

Let  not  your  accuser  be  a  slave  or  a  freed  person. 

Thus,  in  the  ancient  discipline  of  the  church,  as  in  the  secular 
tribunals,  the  testimony  of  slaves  was  inadmissible. 

In  the  year  305,  a  provincial  council  was  held  at  Elvira,  in  the 
southern  part  of  Spain.  The  fifth  canon  of  which  is — 

Si  qua  domina  furore  zeli  accensa  flagris  verberaverit  ancillam 
suam,  ita  ut  in  tertium  diem  animam  cum  cruciatu  effundat :  eo 
quod  incertum  sit,  voluntate,  an  casu  occiderit,  si  voluntate  post 
septem  annos ;  si  casu,  post  quinquennii  tempora  ;  acta  legitima 
psenitentia,  ad  comniunionem  placuit  admitti.  Quod  si  infra  tem 
pora  constituta  fuerit  infirmata,  accipiat  comniunionem. 

If  any  mistress,  carried  away  by  great  anger,  shall  have  whipped 
her  maid-servant  so  that  she  shall  within  three  days  die  in  torture, 
as  it  is  uncertain  whether  it  may  happen  by  reason  of  her  will  or  by 
accident,  it  is  decreed  that  she  may  be  admitted  to  communion,  hav 
ing  done  lawful  penance,  after  seven  years,  if  it  happened  by  her 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

if  by  accident,  after  five  years.     But  should  she  get  sick 
within  the  time  prescribed,  she  may  get  communion. 

Spanish  ladies,  at  that  period,  had  not  yet  so  far  yielded  to  the 
benign  influence  of  the  gospel,  and  so  far  restrained  their  violence 
of  temper,  as  to  show  due  mercy  to  their  female  slaves. 

It  may  be  well  to  observe  a  beneficial  change,  not  only  in  pub 
lic  opinion,  but  even  in  the  court,  by  reason  of  the  influence  of  the 
spirit  of  Christianity;  so  that  the  pagan  more  than  once  reproved, 
by  his  mercy,  the  professor  of  a  better  faith. 

Theodoret  (1.  9,  de  Grasc.  cur.  aff.)  informs  us  that  Plato  esta 
blished  the  moral  and  legal  innocence  of  the  master  who  slew  his 
slave.  ^  Ulpian,  the  Roman  jurist  (1.  2,  de  his  quaa  sunt  sui  vel 
alieni  jur.)  testifies  the  power  which— in  imitation  of  the  Greeks— 
the  Roman  masters  had  over  the  lives  of  their  slaves.  The  well- 
known  sentence  of  Pollio  upon  the  unfortunate  slave  that  broke  a 
crystal  vase  at  supper,— that  he  should  be  cast  as  food  to  fish,— 
and  the  interference  of  Augustus,  who  was  a  guest  at  that  supper, 
give  a  strong  exemplification  of  the  tyranny  then  in  many  instances 
indulged. 

Antoninus  Pius  issued  a  constitution  about  the  year  150,  restrain 
ing  this  power,  and  forbidding  a  master  to  put  his  own  slave  to 
death,  except  in  those  cases  where  he  would  be  permitted  to  slay 
the  slave  of  another.  The  cruelty  of  the  Spaniards  to  their  slaves, 
in  the  province  of  Boetica,  gave  occasion  to  the  constitution ;  and 
we  have  a  rescript  of  Antoninus  to  Mlius  Martianus,  the  proconsul 
of  Boetica,  in  the  case  of  the  slave  of  Julius  Sabinus,  a  Spaniard. 
In  this  the  right  of  the  masters  to  their  slaves  is  recognised,  but 
the  officer  is  directed  to  hear  their  complaints  of  cruelty,  starva 
tion,  and  oppressive  labour;  to  protect  them,  and,  if  the  complaints 
be  founded  in  truth,  not  to  allow  their  return  to  the  master;  and 
to  insist  on  the  observance  of  the  constitution. 

Caius  (in  1.  2,  ad  Cornel,  de  sicar.)  states  that  the  cause  should 
be  proved  in  presence  of  judges  before  the  master  could  pronounce 
his  sentence.  Spartianus,  the  biographer,  informs  us  that  the  Em 
peror  Adrian,  the  immediate  predecessor  of  Antoninus,  enacted  a 
law  forbidding  masters  to  kill  their  slaves,  unless  legally  convicted. 
And  Ulpian  relates  that  Adrian  placed,  during  five  years,  in  con 
finement  (relegatio)  Umbricia,  a  lady  of  noble  rank,  because,  for 
very  slight  causes,  she  treated  her  female  slaves  most  cruelly. 
But  Constantino  the  Great,  about  the  year  820,  enacted  that  no 
master  should,  under  penalty  due  to  homicide,  put  his  slave  to 


276  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


death,  and  gave  the  jurisdiction  to  the  judges;  but  if  the  slave 
died  casually,  after  necessary  chastisement,  the  master  was  not 
accountable  to  any  legal  tribunal.  (Const,  in  1.  i.  ;  C.  Theod.  do 
emendat.  servorum.) 

As  Christianity  made  progress,  the  unnatural  severity  with 
which  this  class  of  human  beings  was  treated  became  relaxed,  and 
as  the  civil  law  ameliorated  their  condition,  the  canon  law,  by  its 
spiritual  efficacy,  came  in  with  the  aid  of  religion,  to  secure  that, 
the  followers  of  the  Saviour  should  give  full  force  to  the  merciful 
provisions  that  were  introduced. 

The  principle  which  St.  Augustine  laid  down  was  that  observed. 
The  state  was  to  enact  the  laws  regulating  this  species  of  property ; 
the  church  was  to  plead  for  morality  and  to  exhort  to  practise 
mercy. 

About  the  same  time,  St.  Peter,  archbishop  of  Alexandria, 
drew  up  a  number  of  penitential  canons,  pointing  out  the  manner 
of  receiving,  treating,  and  reconciling  the  "lapsed,"  or  those  who, 
through  fear  of  persecution,  fell  from  the  profession  of  the  faith. 
Those  canons  were  held  in  high  repute,  and  were  generally  adopted 
by  the  eastern  bishops. 

The  sixth  of  those  canons  exhibits  to  us  a  device  of  weak 
Christians,  who  desired  to  escape  the  trials  of  martyrdom,  without 
being  guilty  of  actual  apostasy.  A  person  of  this  sort  procured 
that  one  of  his  slaves  should  personate  him,  and  in  his  name  should 
apostatize.  The  canon  prescribes  for  such  a  slave,  who  necessarily 
was  a  Christian  and  a  slave  of  a  Christian,  but  one-third  of  the 
time  required  of  a  free  person,  in  a  mitigated  penance,  taking  into 
account  the  influence  of  fear  of  the  master,  which,  though  it  did 
not  excuse,  yet  it  diminished  the  guilt  of  the  apostasy. 

The  general  council  of  Nice,  in  Bythinia,  was  held  in  the  year 
325,  when  Constantino  was  emperor.  In  the  first  canon  of  this 
council,  according  to  the  usual  Greek  and  Latin  copies,  there  is  a 
provision  for  admitting  slaves,  as  well  as  free  persons  who  have 
been  injured  by  others,  to  holy  orders.  In  the  Arabic  copy,  the 
condition  is  specially  expressed,  which  is  not  found  in  the  Greek 
or  Latin,  but  which  had  been  previously  well  known  and  universally 
established,  "  that  this  should  yiot  take  place  unless  "lie  slave  had 
been  manumitted  by  his  master." 

About  this  period,  also,  several  of  the  Gnostic  and  Manichean 
errors  prevailed  extensively  in  Asia  Minor.  The  fanatics  denied 
the  lawfulness  of  marriage ;  they  forbid  meat  to  be  eaten ;  they 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  277 

condemned  the  use  of  wine ;  they  praised  extravagantly  the 
monastic  institutions,  and  proclaimed  the  obligation  on  all  to  enter 
into  religious  societies ;  they  decried  the  lawfulness  of  slavery  ; 
they  denounced  the  slaveholders  as  violating  equally  the  laws  of 
nature  and  of  religion ;  they  offered  to  aid  slaves  to  desert  their 
owners  ;  gave  them  exhortations,  invitations,  asylum,  and  protec 
tion  ;  and  in  all  things  assumed  to  be  more  holy,  more  perfect,  and 
more  spiritual  than  other  men. ! ! ! 

Osius,  bishop  of  Cordova,  whom  Pope  Sylvester  sent  as  his 
legate  into  the  east,  and  who  presided  in  the  council  of  Nice,  was 
present  when  several  bishops  assembled  in  the  city  of  Gangrse, 
Paphlagonia,  to  correct  those  errors.  Pope  Symmachus  declared, 
in  a  council  held  in  Rome,  about  the  year  500,  that  Osius  con 
firmed,  by  the  authority  of  the  pope,  the  acts  of  this  council.  The 
decrees  have  been  admitted  into  the  body  of  canon  law,  and  have 
always  been  regarded  as  a  rule  of  conduct  in  the  Catholic  church. 
The  third  canon : 

Si  quis  docet  servum,  pietatis  prsetextu,  dominum  contemnere, 
et  a  ministerio  recedere,  et  non  cum  benevolentia  et  omni  honore 
domino  suo  inservire.  Anathema  sit. 

If  any  one,  under  the  pretence  of  piety,  teaches  a  slave  to  despise 
his  master,  and  to  withdraw  from  his  service,  and  not  to  serve  his 
master  with  good-will  and  all  respect.  Let  him  be  anathema. 

Let  him  be  anathema  is  never  appended  to  any  decree  which 
does  not  contain  the  expression  of  unchangeable  doctrine  respect 
ing  belief  or  morality,  and  indicates  that  the  doctrine  has  been 
revealed  by  God.  It  is  precisely  what  St.  Paul  says  in  Gal  i.  8  : 
"But  though  we,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  preach  a  gospel  to  you 
beside  that  which  we  have  preached  to  you,  let  him  be  anathema." 
9:  "As  we  said  before  to  you,  so  I  say  now  again:  If  any  man 
preach  to  you  a  gospel  besides  that  which  you  have  received ;  let 
him  be  anathema."  It  is  therefore  manifest,  that  although  this 
council  of  Gangrse  was  a  particular  one,  yet  the  universal  recep 
tion  of  this  third  canon,  with  its  anathema,  and  its  recognition  in 
the  Roman  council  by  Pope  Symmachus,  gives  it  the  greatest  au 
thority  ;  and  in  Labbe  it  is  further  entitled  as  approved  by  Leo  IV., 
about  the  year  850,  dist.  20,  O.  de  libell. 

Several  councils  were  held  in  Africa  in  the  third  and  fourth 
centuries,  in  Carthage,  in  Milevi,  and  in  Hippo.  About  the  year 
422,  the  first  of  Pope  Celestine  I.,  one  was  held  under  Aurelius, 
archbishop  of  Carthage,  and  in  which  St.  Augustine  sat  as  bishop 


278  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

of  Hippo  and  legate  of  Numidia.  A  compilation  was  made  of 
the  canons  of  this  and  the  preceding  ones,  which  was  styled  the 
"African  Council."  The  canon  cxvi.  of  this  collection,  taken 
into  the  body  of  the  canon  law,  decrees  that  slaves  shall  not  be 
admitted  as  prosecutors,  nor  shall  certain  freedmen  be  so  admitted, 
except  to  complain  for  themselves;  and  for  this,  as  well  as  for  the 
incapacity  of  several  others  there  described,  the  public  law  is  cited, 
.as  well  as  the  7th  and  8th  councils  of  Carthage. 

The  great  St.  Basil  was  born  in  329,  and  died  in  379.  His 
works,  called  "  Canonical,"  contain  a  great  number  of  those  which 
were  the  rules  of  discipline,  not  only  for  Asia  Minor,  but  for  the 
vast  regions  in  its  vicinity.  The  fortieth  canon  regards  the  mar 
riages  of  female  slaves.  In  this  he  mentions  a  discipline  which 
was  not  general,  but  was  peculiar  to  the  north-eastern  provinces  of 
the  church,  requiring  the  consent  of  the  master  to  the  validity  of 
the  marriage-contract  of  a  female  slave :  this  was  not  required  in 
other  places,  as  is  abundantly  testified  by  several  documents. 

The  forty-second  canon  treats  in  like  manner  of  the  marriages 
of  children  without  their  parents'  consent,  and  generally  of  those 
of  all  slaves  without  the  consent  of  the  owner. 


LESSON  VI. 

IT  may  not  be  improper  now  to  take  a  more  particular  view  of 
the  civil  world,  its  condition,  and  of  those  wars  at  the  instance  of 
which  it  had  been,  and  then  was,  flooded  with  slaves.  As  an 
example,  we  select  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century : 

Attila,  to  whom  the  Romans  gave  the  sobriquet,  "  FLagellmn, 
Dei,"  Scourge  of  Gf-od,  was  driven  by  JEtius  out  of  Gaul  in  the 
year  451 ;  and  the  following  year,  pouring  his  wild  hordes  down 
upon  Italy,  conquered  Aquillia,  Pavia,  Milan,  and  a  great  number 
of  small  cities,  and  was  in  the  attitude  of  marching  on  Rome. 
The  Emperor  Valentinian  III.,  who  was  a  weak  prince,  panic- 
struck,  shut  himself  up  in  Ravenna ;  and  his  general,  JEtius,  who 
had  been  so  victorious  in  Gaul,  partook  of  the  general  fear  when 
invaded  at  home.  The  destruction  of  Rome  and  its  imperial 
power,  the  slaughter  and  slavery  of  the  Roman  people,  and  the 
extinction  of  the  church  appeared  probable.  Under  such  a  state 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  279 

of  things,  the  emperor  and  his  council  prevailed  on  Leo  the  pon 
tiff  himself,  supported  by  Albienus  and  Tragelius,  men  of  great 
experience  and  talent,  to  undertake  an  embassy  to  the  enemy's 
camp,  then  on  the  banks  of  the  Minzo.  This  embassy  was  ac 
companied  by  a  most  grand  and  numerous  retinue — a  small  army — 
armed,  not  with  the  weapons,  of  war,  but  with  the  crosier  and 
crook.  Nor  did  Attila  attempt  to  hide  his  joy  for  their  arrival. 
The  most  profound  attention,  the  most  convincing  demonstrations 
of  his  kindness  to  them,  were  studiously  displayed  by  him. 

The  terms  proposed  were  readily  accepted,  and  Attila  and  his 
army,  a  tornado  fraught  with  moral  and  physical  ruin  to  Rome, 
the  church,  and  the  civilized  world,  silently  sank  away  far  behind 
the  Danube. 

Nor  is  it  strange  that  the  great  success  of  this  embassy  should 
have  been  attributed  to  some  intervention  of  miraculous  power 
during  the  dark  ages  that  followed ; — and  hence  we  find  that,  four 
hundred  years  after,  in  one  of  Gruter's  copies  of  "  The  Historica 
Miscella,"  it  is  stated  that  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  stood,  visible 
alone  to  Attila,  on  either  side  of  Leo,  brandishing  a  sword,  com 
manding  him  to  accept  whatever  Leo  should  offer;  and  this  is 
quoted  as  credible  history  by  Barronius,  ad  ann.  452,  no. 
47-59,  and  has  been  painted  by  Raffaele,  at  a  much  later  period. 
The  idea  was  perhaps  poetical,  and  this  piece  alone  would  have 
immortalized  the  artist.  But  it  is  truly  singular  that  this  ap 
pearance  of  Peter  and  Paul  should  have  gained  a  place  in  the 
Roman  Breviary,  especially  as  it  is  nowhere  alluded  to  by  Leo, 
nor  by  his  secretary,  Prosper,  who  was  present  at  that  treaty,  nor 
by  any  contemporary  whatever.  The  facts  attached  to  Attila,  in 
connection  with  this  treaty,  were : — His  army  was  extremely  desti 
tute,  and  a  contagious  and  very  mortal  disease  was  raging  in  his 
camp ;  in  addition  to  which,  Marcian  had  gathered  a  large  army, 
then  under  march  for  Italy,  to  join  the  imperial  forces  under 
^Etius,  while,  at  the  same  moment,  another  army,  sent  by  Marciari 
long  before,  were  then  ravaging  the  country  of  the  Huns  them 
selves  :  of  these  facts  Attila  was  well  advised.  These  were  the 
agencies  that  operated  on  his  mind  in  favour  of  peace  with  Valen- 
tiniari.  To  us  the  idea  seems  puerile  to  suppose  Jehovah  sending 
Petw  and  Paul,  sword  in  hand,  to  frighten  his  Hunnish  majesty 
from  making  slaves  of  the  Roman  people. 

Would  it  not  be  more  consonant  with  the  general  acts  of  his 
providence  to  point  Attila  to  his  diseased  army ;  to  their  conse- 


280  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

quent  want  of  supplies,  and  to  the  threatening  danger  of  his  being 
totally  cut  off  by  the  two  armies  of  Marcian,  saying  nothing  of 
the  possibility  of  a  restored  confidence  among  the  then  panic- 
struck  Romans  ?  Besides,  it  has  been  well  ascertained  that,  at  the 
time  of  Leo's  arrival,  he  had  been  hesitating  whether  to  march  on 
Home — or  recross  the  Alps.  See  Bower,  vol.  ii.  p.  202  ;  also,  Jor- 
nandez  Her.  Groth.  c.  41,  49. 

But,  we  acknowledge  the  intervening  influences  of  the  Divine 
will,  in  this  case,  as  forcibly  as  it  could  be  urged,  even  if  attended 
with  all  the  particulars  and  extravagancies  of  the  poetic  painter's 
fancy.  We  have  alluded  to  this  particle  of  the  history  of  that 
day,  as  it  stands  upon  the  records,  in  order  that,  while  we  quote, 
we  may  not  be  misunderstood  as  to  our  view  of  the  providences  of 
God. 

But  to  return  to  our  subject : — Upon  a  review  of  these  times,  we 
may  notice  the  distractions  of  the  church  by  means  of  the  various 
heresies  which  imbittered  against  each  other  the  different  profes 
sions  of  the  Christian  faith.  How  the  followers  of  Arius,  for  more 
than  half  a  century,  spread  confusion  and  violence  over  the  entire 
Christian  world : — How,  crushed  and  driven  out  by  Theodosius, 
thousands  took  shelter  among  the  pagans,  whose  movements  they 
stimulated,  and  whom  we  now  perceive  in  progress  of  the  gradual 
overthrow  of  the  Roman  Empire  : — How,  upon  the  partial  or  more 
general  successes  of  these  hordes,  their  Arian  confederates,  with  a 
fresh  memory  of  their  late  oppressions  and  the  cruelties  inflicted 
on  them,  retaliated  with  unsparing  severity  and  bloodshed  upon 
their  Nicene  opponents ;  while,  among  all  these  savage  invaders, 
the  Arian  creed  supplanted  and  succeeded  the  pagan  worship  : — 
How  this  wild  Attila  swept  the  banks  of  the  Danube  and  the  Rhine, 
carrying  death  or  desolation  to  the  followers  of  Pharamond,  and 
to  the  Goths,  who  had  then  already  established  themselves  in  the 
strongholds  of  ancient  Gaul  and  of  the  more  modern  Romans. 
True,  his  career  was  checked  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhone,  but,  like 
a  hunted  lion,  he  rushed  towards  the  Mediterranean,  and,  recruit 
ing  his  force  in  Pannonia,  directed  his  march  to  Italy  ;  and  to-day, 
after  fourteen  centuries,  it  is  said  that  Aquillia  still  stands  the 
monument  of  his  barbarity.  We  have  this  moment  noticed  the 
extraordinary  manner  in  which,  it  is  said,  by  the  monition  of  Leo, 
his  path  of  ruin  was  suddenly  directed  to  the  ice-bound  fortresses 
of  the  north.  But  the  captives  made  on  both  sides,  in  these  deso 
lating  wars,  greatly  increased  the  number  of  slaves  of  the  white 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  281 

race,  which  otherwise,  from  operating  causes,  would  have  been 
diminished. 

Up  to  this  time  in  these  regions,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  to  a  much 
[ater  time,  slavery  was  the  result  of  that  mercy  in  the  victor, 
whereby  he  spared  the  life  of  the  conquered  enemy.  Its  condition 
did  not  depend  on  any  previous  condition  of  degradation,  of  free 
dom  or  slavery,  nor  upon  the  race  or  colour  of  the  captive ; — and 
the  wars,  for  ages,  which  had  been  and  were  so  productive  of 
slavery,  were  almost  exclusively  among  those  who,  in  common, 
claimed  a  Caucasian  origin.  Instances  of  African  slavery  were  rare. 
The  Romans  derived  some  few  from  their  African  wars,  valued 
mostly  by  pride,  because  they  were  the  most  rare. 

Thus  we  read  in  the  Life  of  Nero,  by  Tacitus : — "  Nero  never 
travelled  with  less  than  a  thousand  baggage-wagons ;  the  mules  all 
shod  with  silver,  and  the  drivers  dressed  in  scarlet ;  his  African 
slaves  adorned  with  bracelets  on  their  arms,  and  the  horses  deco 
rated  with  the  richest  trappings."  But  these  times  had  passed 
away.  Yet  we  find  in  the  Life  of  Alphonso  el  Casto,  that,  upon 
his  conquest  of  Lisbon,  798,  he  sent  seven  Moorish  slaves  as  a 
present  to  Charlemagne.  And  also,  in  Bower's  "Lives  of  the 
Popes,"  that  in  849,  "A  company  of  Moors,  from  Africa,  rendez 
voused  at  Tozar,  in  Sardinia,  and  thence  made  an  incursion,  by  the 
Tiber,  on  Rome.  But  they  were  mostly  lost  in  a  storm  before 
landing.  Of  those  who  got  on  shore,  some  were  killed  in  battle, 
some  were  hanged,  and  a  large  number  were  brought  to  Rome  and 
reduced  to  slavery." 

Yet  the  great  mass  of  slaves  were  of  the  same  race  and  colour 
of  their  masters ;  and  at  this  age,  a  most  important  fact  with  the 
Christian,  if  they  were  pagans,  was  their  conversion  to  Christianity. 

For  the  first  three  hundred  years,  we  may  notice  how  Chris 
tianity  had  threaded  her  way  amidst  the  troublous  and  barbarous 
paganisms  of  that  age.  But,  at  the  time  to  which  we  have  arrived, 
Christianity  had  ruled  the  civilized  world  for  more  than  a  century. 
And  had  Providence  seen  fit  'to  have  attended  her  future  path  with 
peace,  human  sympathy  might  have  fondly  hoped  that  the  mild 
spirit  of  her  religion  would  have  been  poured  in  ameliorating,  pu 
rifying  streams  upon  the  condition  and  soul  of  the  slave,  and  like 
a,  dissolving  oil  on  the  chains  that  bound  him. 


282  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


LESSON  VII. 

WE  present  a  series  of  records  and  documents  which  elucidate 
the  practice  and  doctrine  of  the  church  in  regard  to  slavery,  as  we 
find  it  in  that  age. 

These  records  are  mostly  extracts  from  Bishop  England's  Let 
ters,  and  collated  by  him  with  accuracy.  Some  few,  from  Bower, 
Bede,  Lingard,  and  others,  will  be  noticed  in  their  place. 

It  should  be  remembered  that,  in  all  cases  where  the  contrary 
is  not  explicitly  announced,  the  slave  is  of  the  same  colour  and 
race  as  the  master.  At  this  era  of  the  world,  slaves  were  too 
common,  and  their  value  too  little,  to  warrant  the  expense  of  a  dis 
tant  importation.  The  negro  slave,  from  his  exhibiting  an  extreme 
variety  of  the  human  species,  was  regarded  more  as  an  article  of 
curiosity  and  pride  than  usefulness ;  and  therefore  was  seldom  or 
never  found  in  Europe,  except  near  the  royal  palaces,  or  in  the 
trains  of  emperors. 

As  early  as  the  days  of  Polycarp  and  St.  Ignatius,  who  were 
disciples  of  the  apostles,  Christians  had,  from  motives  of  mercy, 
charity,  and  affection,  manumitted  many  of  their  slaves  in  presence 
of  the  bishops,  and  this  was  more  or  less  extensively  practised 
through  the  succeeding  period.  In  several  churches,  it  was  agreed 
that  if  a  slave  became  a  Christian,  he  should  be  manumitted  on 
receiving  baptism.  In  Rome,  the  slave  was  frequently  manumitted 
by  the  form  called  vindicta,  with  the  praetor's  rod.  Constantine, 
in  the  year  317,  Sozomen  relates,  lib.  i.  c.  9,  transferred  this  au 
thority  to  the  bishops,  who  were  empowered  to  use  the  rod  in  the 
church,  and  have  the  manumission  testified  in  the  presence  of  the 
congregation.  A  rescript  of  that  emperor  to  this  effect  is  found 
in  the  Theodosian  code,  1.  i.  c.  De  his  qui  in  eccl.  manumitt.  The 
master,  who  consented  to  manumit  the  slave,  presented  him  to  the 
bishop,  in  presence  of  the  congregation,  and  the  bishop  pronounced 
him  free,  and  became  the  guardian  of  his  freedom.  The  rescript 
was  directed  to  Protogenas,  bishop  of  Sardica,  and  was  in  the  con 
sulship  of  Sabinus  and  Ruflmus. 

In  book  ii.  of  the  same  code,  is  a  rescript  to  Osius,  bishop  of 
Cordova,  in  which  the  emperor  empowers  the  bishops  to  grant  the 


STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY.  283 

privilege  of  Roman  citizenship  to  such  freedmen  as  thoy  may  judge 
worthy. 

In  the  consulship  of  Crispus  and  Constantine,  a  grant  was 
given  to  the  clergy  of  manumitting  their  own  slaves  when  they 
pleased,  by  any  form  they  should  think  proper.  About  a  century 
later,  St.  Augustine,  bishop  of  Hippo,  informs  us  (Sermo.  de  di- 
versis,  50)  that  this  ftfrm  was  established  in  Africa.  "  The  deacon 
of  Hippo  is  a  poor  man :  he  has  nothing  to  give  to  any  person  : 
but,  before  he  was  a  clergyman,  he,  by  the  fruit  of  his  labour  and 
industry,  bought  some  little  servants,  and  is  to-day,  by  the  epis 
copal  act,  about  to  manumit  them  in  your  sight." 

This  same  bishop  writes,  (Enarrat  in  Ps.  cxxiv.,)  "Christ  does 
not  wish  to  make  you  proud  while  you  walk  in  this  journey,  that 
is,  while  you  are  in  this  life.  Has  it  happened  that  you  have 
been  made  a  Christian,  and  you  have  a  man  as  your  master :  you 
have  not  been  made  a  Christian  that  you  may  scorn  to  serve. 
When,  therefore,  by  the  command  of  Christ  you  are  the  servant 
of  a  man,  your  service  is  not  to  him,  but  to  the  one  that  gave  you 
the  command  to  serve.  And  he  says,  Hear  your  masters,  ac 
cording  to  the  flesh,  with  fear  and  trembling,  and  in  the  simplicity 
of  your  hearts,  not  as  eye-servants,  as  if  pleasing  men,  but,  as 
the  servants  of  Christ,  doing  the  will  of  God,  from  your  hearts, 
with  a  good  will.  Behold,  he  did  not  liberate  you  from  being  ser 
vants,  but  he  made  those  who  were  bad  servants  to  be  good  ser 
vants.  Oh,  how  much  do  the  rich  owe  to  Christ  who  has  thus  set 
order  in  their  houses !  So,  if  there  be  in  his  family  a  faithless 
slave,  and  Christ  convert  him,  he  does  not  say  to  him,  Leave 
your  master,  because  you  have  now  known  him  who  is  the  true 
Master  !  Perhaps  this  master  of  yours  is  impious  and  unjust,  and 
that  you  are  faithful  and  just ;  it  is  unbecoming  that  the  just  and 
faithful  should  serve  the  unjust  and  the  infidel :  this  is  not  what 
he  said;  but,  let  him  rather  serve."  This  great  doctor  of  the 
church  continues  at  considerable  length  to  show  how  Christ,  by  his 
own  example,  exhorts  the  servants  to  fidelity  and  obedience  to 
their  masters  in  every  thing,  save  what  is  contrary  to  God's  ser 
vice.  Subsequently,  he  passes  to  the  end  of  time,  and  the  opening 
of  eternity,  and  shows  many  good,  obedient,  and  afflicted  servants 
mingled  with  good  masters  among  the  elect,  and  bad,  faithless,  and  * 
stubborn  servants,  with  cruel  masters,  cast  among  the  reprobates^J 

In  his  look  i.,  on  the  Sermon  of  Christ  on  the  Mount,  he  dwells 
upon  the  duty  of  Christian  masters  to  their  slaves.  They  are  not 


284  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

^o  regard  them  as  mere  property,  but  to  treat  them  as  human 
beings  having  immortal  souls,  for  which  Christ  died. 

Thus  we  perceive  that,  though  from  the  encouragement  of  manu 
mission  and  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  the  number  of  slaves  had 
been  greatly  reduced  and  their  situation  greatly  improved,  still 
the  principles  were  recognised  of  the  moral  and  religious  legality 
of  holding  slave  property,  and  of  requiring  t^iat  they  should  per 
form  a  reasonable  service. 

The  instances  of  voluntary  slavery,  such  as  that  of  St.  Paulinus, 
were  not  rare.  It  is  related,  that  having  bestowed  all  that  he 
could  raise,  to  ransom  prisoners  taken  by  the  barbarians  who  over 
ran  the  country;  upon  the  application  of  a  poor  widow  whose  son 
was  held  in  captivity,  he  sold  himself,  to  procure  the  means  of  her 
son's  release.  His  good  conduct  procured  the  affection  of  his 
master,  and  subsequently  his  emancipation.  Thus  slavery  lost 
some  of  its  degrading  character.  This,  together  with  the  confu 
sion  arising  from  the  turbulence  accompanying  the  invasions, 
caused  a  relaxation  of  discipline :  to  remedy  some  of  the  abuses, 
Pope  Leo  issued  several  letters.  The  following  is  an  extract  from 
the  first  of  them :  it  has  been  taken  into  the  body  of  the  canon 
law.  Dist.  5,  Admittuntur: — 

"  Admittuntur  passim  ad  ordinem  sacrum,  quibus  nulla  natalium, 
nulla  morum  dignitas  suffragatur :  et  qui  a  dominis  suis  libertatem 
consequi  miriime  potuerunt,  ad  fastigiutn  sacerdotii,  tanquam  servilis 
vilitas  hunc  honorem  jure  capiat,  provehuntur,  et  probari  Deo  se 
posse  creditur,  qui  domino  suo  necdum  probare  se  potuit.  Duplex 
itaque  in  hac  parte  reatus  est,  quod  et  sacrum  mysterium  (minis- 
terium)  talis  consortii  vilitate  polluitur,  et  dominorum,  quantum  ad 
illicitae  usurpationis  temeritatem  pertinet,  jura  solvuntur.  Ab  his 
itaque,  fratres  carissimi,  omnes  provincise  vestrse  abstineant  sacer- 
dotes :  et  non  tantum  ab  his,  sed  ab  illis  etiam,  qui  aut  originali 
aut  alicui  conditioni  obligati  sunt,  volumus  ternperari :  nisi  forte 
eorum  petitio  aut  voluntas  accesserit,  qui  aliquid  sibi  in  eos  vindi- 
cant  potestatis.  Debet  enim  esse  immunis  ab  aliis,  qui  divinse 
militiae  fuerit  aggregandus ;  ut  a  castris  Dominicis,  quibus  nomen 
ejus  adscribitur,  nullis  necessitatis  vinculis  abstrahatur." 

Persons  who  have  not  the  qualifications  of  birth  or  conduct, 
are  everywhere  admitted  to  holy  orders  ;  and  they  who  could  not 
procure  freedom  from  their  masters  are  elevated  to  the  rank  of  the 
priesthood  ;  as  if  the  lowliness  of  slavery  could  rightfully  claim  this 
honour :  ari,d,  as  if  he  tvho  could  not  procure  the  approbation  of 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  285 

even  his  master,  could  procure  that  of  Gf-od.  There  is,  therefor** 
in  this  a  double  criminality :  for  the  holy  ministry  is  polluted  by 
the  meanness  of  this  fellowship,  and  so  far  as  regards  the  rashness 
of  this  unlawful  usurpation,  the  rights  of  the  masters  are  infringed. 
Wherefore,  dearest  brethren,  let  all  the  priests  of  your  province 
keep  aloof  from  these :  and  not  only  from  these,  but  also,  we  desire 
they  should  abstain  from  those  who  are  under  bond,  by  origin  or 
any  condition,  except  perchance  upon  the  petition  or  consent  of  the 
persons  who  have  them  in  their  power  in  any  way.  For  he  who  is 
to  be  aggregated  to  the  divine  warfare,  ought  to  be  exempt  from 
other  obligations :  so  that  he  may  not  by  any  bond  of  necessity  be 
drawn  away  from  that  camp  of  the  Lord  for  which  his  name  has 
been  enrolled. 

Prosper,  lib.  2  de  vita  contemplat.  c.  3,  and  many  other  writers  of 
this  century,  treat  of  the  relative  duties  of  the  Christian  master 
and  his  Christian  slave.  The  zeal  and  charity  of  several  holy 
men  led  them  to  make  extraordinary  sacrifices  during  this  period, 
to  redeem  the  captives  from  the  barbarians :  besides  the  remark 
able  instance  of  Paulinus,  we  have  the  ardent  and  persevering 
charity  of  Exuperius,  bishop  of  Toulouse,  who  sold  the  plate  belong 
ing  to  the  church,  and  used  glass  for  the  chalice,  that  he  might  be 
able  by  every  species  of  economy  to  procure  liberty  for  the  enslaved. 

Nor  was  this  a  solitary  instance.  About  the  year  513,  Pope 
Symmachus  called  a  national  council,  by  which,  among  other 
enactments,  he  established  the  rule  that  under  no  circumstances, 
could  the  church  property  be  alienated.  See  Bower,  vol.  ii.  p.  277. 

About  the  year  535,  Caesarius,  primate  of  Aries,  applied  to 
Pope  Agapetus  for  means  to  relieve  the  poor  Christians  in  Gaul. 
But,  at  that  time,  the  church  being  quite  destitute  of  money,  the 
pope  excused  himself,  and  quoted  the  decree  of  Symmachus.  The 
Arians,  and  some  others,  hence  inculcated  the  doctrine  that  the 
alienation  of  church  property,  under  any  circumstances,  was 
sacrilege.  The  laws  of  the  empire  also  forbid  such  alienation,  but 
with  the  proviso,  "  except  there  was  no  other  means  by  which  the 
poor  could  be  relieved  in  time  of  famine,  nor  the  captives  be  re 
deemed  from  slavery."  Such  was  the  practice  among  the  most 
pious  of  the  age. 

St.  Ambrose  did  not  scruple  to  melt  down  the  communion-plate 
of  the  church  of  Milan  to  redeem  some  captives,  who  otherwise 
must  have  continued  in  slavery.  The  Arians  charged  him  with 
sacrilege :  in  answer  to  which  he  wrote  his  Apology,  which  has 


286  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

reached  this  late  day,  as  the  rules  and  reasons  of  the  church  in 
such  cases.  He  says — "  Is  it  not  better  that  the  plate  should  be 
melted  by  the  bishop  to  maintain  the  poor,  when  they  can  be 
maintained  by  no  other  means,  than  that  it  should  become  the 
spoil  and  plunder  of  a  sacrilegious  enemy  ?  Will  not  the  Lord 
thus  expostulate  with  us,  Why  did  you  suffer  so  many  helpless 
persons  to  die  with  hunger,  when  you  had  gold  to  relieve  and  sup 
port  them  ?  Why  were  so  many  captives  carried  away  and  sold 
without  ransom  ?  Why  were  so  many  suffered  to  be  slain  by  the 
enemy  ?  It  would  have  been  better  to  have  preserved  the  vessels 
of  living  men  than  lifeless  metals.  To  this,  what  answer  can  be 
returned?  Should  one  say,  I  was  afraid  that  the  temple  of  God 
should  want  its  ornaments :  Christ  would  answer,  My  sacraments 
require  no  gold,  nor  do  they  please  me  more  for  being  ministered 
in  gold,  as  they  are  not  to  be  bought  with  gold.  The  ornament 
of  my  sacrament  is  the,  redemption  of  captives ;  and  those  alone 
are  precious  vessels,  ttiat  redeem  souls  from  death." 

•  The  saint  concludes  that  though  it  would  be  highly  criminal  for 
a  man  to  convert  the  sacred  vessels  to  his  own  private  use,  yet  it 
is  so  far  from  being  a  Berime,  that  he  looks  upon  it  as  an  obligation 
incumbent  on  him  and/his  brethren  to  prefer  the  living  temples  of 
God  to  the  unnecessary  ornaments  of  the  material  edifices.  See 
Ambrose  de  Offic.  lib.  ii.  cap.  28  ;  and  such  was  the  doctrine  of  St. 
Austin,  see  Possid.  Vit.  Aug.  caput  24 ;  of  Acacius  of  Amida,  see 
Socrat.  lib.  vii.  c.  24 ;  of  Deigratias  of  Carthage,  see  Viet,  de 
Persec.  Vandal,  lib.  i. ;  of  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  see  Theodoret,  lib. 
ii.  c.  27  ;  yea  all,  who  have  touched  on  the  subject,  have  subscribed 
to  the  doctrine  of  St.  Ambrose.  Even  the  Emperor  Justinian,  in 
his  law  against  sacrilege,  forbids  the  church  plate,  vestments,  or 
any  other  gifts,  to  be  sold,  or  pawned  ;  but  adds,  "  except  in  case 
of  captivity  or  famine,  the  lives  and  souls  of  men  being  preferable 
to  any  vessels  or  vestments  whatever."  See  Codex  Just.  lib.  i. 
tit.  2-  de  Sacr.  Eccles.  leg.  21 ;  also  see  Bower's  Life  of  Agapetus, 
p.  354. 

It  will  be  readily  conceived  that  the  barbarians,  in  the  earlier 
ages  of  the  Christian  church,  treated  their  slaves  with  cruelty,  in 
consistent  with  the  spirit  of  the  new  religion;  and,  upon  their 
adoption  of  the  Christian  creed,  they  sometimes  ran  into  an  oppo 
site  extreme,  contrary  to  the  rules  of  the  church.  In  both  cases 
the  church  used  her  authority,  and,  says  Bishop  England,  upon 
their  embrace  of  Christianity,  "  slavery  began  to  assume  a  variety 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  287 

of  mitigated  forms  among  them,"  which  will,  in  some  degree,  be 
developed  as  we  proceed  with  the  history  of  canonical  legislation 
on  that  subject. 

The  rules  of  the  Christian  church  are  evidently  founded  upon 
the  laws  of  God,  as  delivered  to  Moses :  "And  if  a  man  smite  his 
servant,  or  his  maid,  with  a  rod,  and  he  die  under  his  hand,  he 
shall  be  surely  punished.  Notwithstanding,  if  he  continue  a  day 
or  two,  he  shall  not  be  punished :  for  he  is  his  money." 

"If  a  man  smite  the  eye  of  his  servant,  or  the  eye  of  his  maid, 
that  it  perish,  he  shall  let  him  go  free  for  his  eye's  sake.  And 
if  he  smite  his  man-servant's  tooth,  or  his  maid-servant's  tooth, 
he  shall  let  him  go  for  his  tooth's  sake."  Exod.  xxi.  20,  21,  26,  27. 
And  if  a  man  took  his  female  slave  to  wife,  and  became  displeased 
with  her  *  *  *  she  should  be  free.  See  Deut.  xxi.  10-15. 
But  fornication  in  a  female  slave  was  not  punished  by  death,  but 
by  stripes.  See  Lev.  xix.  20-23. 

Neither  the  laws  of  Moses,  nor  indeed  of  any  civilized  people, 
have  ever  permitted  unusual  or  cruel  punishments  to  be  inflicted  on 
the  slave.  Civilization,  as  well  as  Judaism,  seems  to  have  incul 
cated,  "  Be  not  excessive  toward  any ;  and  without  discretion  do 
nothing.  If  thou  have  a  servant,  let  him  be  ninto  thee  as  thyself, 
because  thou  hast  bought  him  with  a  price."  Ec'cl  xxxiii.  29. 

Among  heathen  nations,  their  laws  were  to  the  effect,  that  when 
the  slave,  sick  or  wounded,  was  neglected,  or  abandoned  to  his  fate 
by  his  master ;  yet,  if  he  recovered,  the  master  should  lose  his 
property  in  such  slave,  and  the  slave  should  be  free ;  and  such 
neglect  was  often  otherwise  made  punishable.  The  Koman  law 
sanctioned  this  doctrine :  "  Si  verberatus  fuerit  servus  non  morti- 
tere,  negligentia  autem  perierit,  de  vulnerato  actio  erit,  non  de 
occiso."  See  Lex  Aquillia.  And  so  in  ancient  France,  see  Fcedere, 
vol.  iii.  p.  290  :  If  negligence  or  bad  treatment  towards  the  slave 
was  proved  in  the  master,  the  slave  was  declared  free. 

At  this  day,  in  all  civilized  countries,  the  civil  law  forbids  un 
usual  and  cruel  punishment  of  slaves,  and  also  a  wanton  and  care 
less  negligence  of  them,  either  in  sickness  or  health.  Thus  the 
law  punishes  the  master  for  his  neglect  to  govern  his  slaves,  by 
making  him  responsible  for  their  bad  conduct,  and  the  damage  their 
want  of  proper  government  may  occasion  others. 

In  the  year  494,  Pope  Gelesius  admonished  the  bishops,  at  their 
ordinations,  that — 

"  Ne  unquam  ordinationes  prsesumat  illicitas ;  ne  *    *    *  curse 


288  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 


aut  cuilibet  condition!  obnoxium  notatumque  ad  sacros  ordines 
permittat  accedere." 

That  lie  should  never  presume  to  hold  unlawful  ordinations ; 
that  he  should  not  allow  to  holy  orders  *  *  *  any  person  bound 
to  the  service  of  the  court,  or  liable  to  bond  for  his  condition 
(slavery)  or  marked  thereto. 

In  the  year  506,  a  council  was  held  at  Agdle,  the  sixty-second 
canon  of  which  is — 

"  Si  quis  servum  proprium  sine  conscientia  judicis  occiderit, 
excommunicatione  vel  poenitentia  biennii  reatum  sanguinis  emen- 
dabit." 

If  any  one  shall  put  his  own  servant  to  death,  without  the  know 
ledge  of  the  judge,  let  him  make  compensation  for  the  guilt  of 
blood  by  excommunication  or  two  years  penance. 

Another  council  was  held  eleven  years  later.  Many  of  the 
canons  of  this  synod  are  transcripts  of  those  of  Agdle.  The 
thirty-fourth  is : 

"  Si  quis  servum  proprium  sine  conscientia  judicis  occiderit,  ex 
communicatione  biennii  effusionem  sanguinis  expiabit." 

If  any  one  shall  slay  his  own  servant  without  the  knowledge  of 
the  judge,  let  him  expiate  the  shedding  of  blood  by  an  excommuni 
cation  of  two  years. 

This  was  nearly  two  hundred  years  after  the  law  of  Constantino 
forbidding  this  exercise  of  power  by  the  master. 

The  third  council  of  Orleans  was  held  in  the  year  538. 

The  thirteenth  canon  regulates,  that  if  Christian  slaves  shall  be 
possessed  by  Jews,  and  these  latter  require  them  to  do  any  thing 
forbidden  by  the  Christian  religion,  or  if  the  Jews  shall  seize  upon 
any  of  their  servants  to  whip  or  punish  them  for  those  things 
that  have  been  declared  to  be  excusable  or  forgiven,  and  those 
slaves  fly  to  the  church  for  protection,  they  are  not  to  be  given  up, 
unless  there  be  given  and  received  a  just  arid  sufficient  sum  to  war 
rant  their  protection. 

The  canon  xxvi.  gives  a  specimen  of  the  early  feudalism  nearly 
similar  to  the  subsequent  villain  service. 

"  U't  nullus  servilibus  colonariisque  conditionibus  obligatus,  juxta, 
statuta  sedis  apostolicse,  ad  honores  ecclesiasticos  admittatur ; 
nisi  prius  aut  testamento,  aut  per  tabulas  legitime  constiterit  abso- 
lutum.  Quod  si  quis  episcoporurn,  ejus  qui  ordinatur  conditionem 
sciens,  transgredi  per  ordinationem  inhibitam  fortasse  voluerir, 
auni  spatio  missas  facere  non  praesumat." 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  289 

Let  no  one  held  under  servile  or  colonizing  conditions  be  ad 
mitted  to  church  honours,  in  violation  of  the  statutes  of  the  Apos 
tolic  see  ;  unless  it  be  evident  that  he  has  been  previously  absolved 
therefrom  by  will  or  by  deed.  And  if  any  bishop,  being  aware  of 
such  condition  of  the  person  so  ordained,  shall  wilfully  transgress 
by  making  such  unlawful  ordination,  let  him  not  presume  to  cele 
brate  mass  for  the  space  of  a  year. 

The  colonial  condition  was  in  its  origin  different  from  the  mere 
servile.  The  mancipium  or  manu  captum  was  the  servus  or  slave 
made  in  war :  the  colonus,  or  husbandman,  though,  at  the  period 
at  which  we  are  arrived,  he  frequently  was  in  as  abject  a  condition, 
yet  was  so  by  a  different  process.  St.  Augustine,  in  cap.  i.  lib.  x. 
De  Givitate  Dei,  tells  us,  "  Coloni  dicuntur,  qui  conditionem  debe- 
bant  genitali  solo  propter  agriculturam  sub  dominio  possessorum." 
They  are  called  colonists  who  owe  their  condition  to  their  native 
land,  under  the  dominion  of  its  possessors. 

The  following  history  of  various  modes  by  which  they  became 
servants,  is  taken  from  the  work  De  G-ubernat.  Dei,  lib.  v.,  by  the 
good  and  erudite  Salvianus,  a  priest,  who  died  at  Marseilles,  about 
the  year  484. 

Nonnulli  eorum  de  quibus  loquimur,  *  *  *  cum  domicilia 
atque  agellos  suos  pervasionibus  perdunt,  aut  fatigati  ab  exactoribus 
deserunt,  quia  tenere  non  possunt,  fundos  majorum  expetunt,  et 
coloni  divitum  fiunt.  Aut  sicut  solent  hi  qui  hostium  terrore  com- 
pulsi,  ad  castella  se  conferunt,  aut  qui  perdito  ingenuse  incolumi- 
tatis  statu  ad  asylum  aliquod  desperatione  confugiunt :  ita  et  isti 
qui  habere  amplius  vel  sedem  vel  dignitatem  suorum  natalium  non 
queunt,  jugo  se  inquilinse  abjectionis  addicunt :  in  hanc  necessita- 
tem  redacti,  ut  exactores  non  facultatis  tantum,  set  etiam  condi- 
tionis  suse,  atque  exultantes  non  a  rebus  tantum  suis,  sed  etiam  a 
seipsis,  ac  perdentes  secum  omnia  sua,  et  rerum  proprietate  care- 
ant,  et  jus  libertatis  amittant.  *  *  *  Illud  gravius  et  acerbius, 
quod  additur  huic  malo  servilius  malum.  Nam  suscipiuntur  advense, 
fiunt  prsejudicio  habitationis  indigence,  et  quos  suscipiunt  ut  extra- 
neos  et  alienos,  incipiunt  habere  quasi  proprios :  quos  esse  constat 
ingenues,  vertunt  in  servos. 

Some  of  those,  when  they  lose  their  dwellings  and  their  little  fields 
by  invasion,  or  leave  them,  being  worried  by  exactions,  as  they  can 
no  longer  hold  them,  seek  the  grounds  of  the  larger  proprietors,  and 
become  the  colonists  of  the  wealthy.  Or,  as  is  usual  with  those  who 
are  driven  off  by  the  fear  of  enemies,  and  take  refuge  in  the  castles, 


290  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

or  who,  having  lost  their  state  of  safe  freedom,  fly  to  some  asylum  in 
despair :  so  they  who  can  no  longer  have  the  place  or  the  dignity 
derived  from  their  birth,  subject  themselves  to  the  abject  yoke  cf  the 
sojourners  lot;  reduced  to  such  necessity,  that  they  are  stripped 
not  only  of  their  property,  but  also  of  their  rank ;  going  into  exile 
not  only  from  what  belongs  to  them  but  from  their  very  selves,  and 
iviih  themselves  losing  all  that  they  had,  they  are  bereft  of  any  pro 
perty  in  things  and  lose  the  very  right  of  liberty.  *  *  *  A 
more  degrading  injury  is  added  to  this  evil  For  they  are  received 
as  strangers,  they  become  inhabitants  bereft  of  the  rights  of  inhabit 
ants;  they  who  receive  them  as  foreigners  and  aliens  begin  to  treat 
them  as  property,  and  change  into  slaves  those  who,  evidently,  were 
free. 

In  this  picture  of  the  colonist,  we  may  find  the  outline  of  the 
villain  of  a  later  age ;  and  in  the  several  enactments  and  regula 
tions  of  succeeding  legislators  and  councils,  we  shall  discover  the 
changes  which  servitude  underwent  previous  to  its  total  extinction 
in  Europe. 

Flodoardin,  c.  28,  History  of  the  church  of  Rheims,  gives  us  the 
will  of  St.  Remi,  its  bishop,  who  baptized  Clovis,  upon  his  conver 
sion  in  496,  and  who  was  still  living  in  the  year  550.  This  docu 
ment  grants  freedom  to  some  of  the  colonists  belonging  to  that 
church  and  retains  others  in  service. 

Du  Cange  says  (Art.  Colonus)  that  though  in  several  instances 
the  condition  of  the  colonists  was  as  abject  as  that  of  slaves,  yet 
generally  they  were  in  a  better  position.  Erant  igitur  coloni 
mediae  conditionis  inter  ingenuos  seu  liberos  et  servos. 


LESSON  VIII. 

FROM  the  fact  that  the  slaves  of  this  era  were  of  the  same 
colour  and  other  physical  qualities  of  their  masters  ;  from  their 
great  number,  and  consequently  little  value,  their  condition 
became  attended  with  extremely  diverse  circumstances ;  so  various 
were,  therefore,  the  relations  between  them  and  the  master,  that 
it  would  now  be  impossible,  perhaps,  to  give  an  accurate  history  of 
their  various  castes.  These  facts  should  be  kept  in  mind,  lest  we 
mistake,  and  find  confusion,  where  distinction  wTas  sufficiently  clear 
and  obvious. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  291 

Muratori,  treating  of  the  Roman  slaves  and  freedmen,  acknow 
ledges  that  he  is  unable  accurately  to  state  the  conditions  on 
which  they  manumitted  their  slaves.  In  his  treatise,  "  Sopra  i 
Servi  e  Liberti  Antichi,"  he  has  a  passage  thus : 

Noi  non  sappiamo  se  con  patti,  e  con  quai  patti  una  vulta  si 
manomettessero  que'  Servi,  che  poi  continuavano  come  Liberti  a 
servire  in  Casa  de'  loro  Padroni,  con  essere  alzati  a  piu  onorati 
impieghi.  Sappiamo  bensi  dal  Tit.  ne  Operis  Libertorum,  e  dall' 
altro  de  bonis  Libertorum  ne'  Digesti,  che  moltissimi  acquistavano 
la  Liberta  con  obbligarsi  di  fare  ai  Padroni  de'  Regaii,  o  delle 
Fatture,  se  erano  Artefici,  Operas,  vel  Donum.  Questo  si  prati- 
cava  verisimilmente  dai  soli  Mercatanti,  ed  altri  Signori  dati  all' 
interarse,  ma  non  gia  dalle  Nobili  Case.  Per  conto  di  questo,  le 
antiche  Iscrizioni  ci  fanno  vedere,  che  moltissimi  furono  coloro, 
che  anche  dopo  la  conseguita  Liberta  seguitavano  a  convivere,  e 
servire  in  quelle  medesime  Case,  non  piu  come  Servi,  ma  come 
Liberti,  perche  probabilmente  tornava  il  conto  agli  uni  e  agli 
altri.  I  Padroni  si  servivano  di  Persone  loro  confident!,  e  gia 
innestate  nella  propria  Famiglia ;  ei  Liberti  cresciuti  di  onore,  e 
di  guadagno  poteano  cumulare  roba  per  se  e  per  li  Figli.  Non 
ho  io  potuto  scoprire  se  i  Romani  tenessero  Servi  Mercenarj  come 
oggidi.  0  di  veri  Servi,  o  di  Liberti  allora  si  servivano.  Cio 
posto,  maraviglia  e,  che  il  Pignoria,  in  trattando  degli  Ufizj  de' 
Servi  antichi,  imbrogliasse  tanto  le  carte,  senza  distinguere  i  Servi 
dai  Liberti,  e  con  attribuir  molti  impieghi  ai  primi,  che  pure  erano 
riserbati  agli  ultimi.  E  piu  da  stupire  e,  citarsi  da  lui  Marmi,  che 
parlano  di  Liberti,  e  pure  sono  presi  da  esso,  come  se  parlassero 
di  Servi. 

We  know  not  whether  they  manumitted  upon  condition,  or,  if 
«o,  upon  what  conditions  they  manumitted  formerly  those  servants 
who  continued  thenceforth  as  freed  persons,  but  elevated  to  more 
honourable  employments,  to  serve  in  the  houses  of  their  masters. 
We  do  indeed  know  in  the  Tit.  de  Operis  Libertorum,  and  in 
another  de  bonis  Libertorum  of  the  Digests,  that  very  many 
acquired  their  liberty  with  the  obligation  of  giving  to  their  masters 
presents,  or  doing  work  if  they  were  artists,  Operas  vel  donum. 
This  was  in  all  likelihood  practised  only  by  merchants  or  other 
masters  given  to  making  profit,  but  not  by  noble  houses.  As  to 
these  the  ancient  inscriptions  exhibit  to  us  that  very  many  who 
obtained  their  freedom,  yet  continued  to  live  and  to  do  service  in 
those  same  houses,  no  longer  as  slaves,  but  as  freed  persons,  because 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


probably  each  party  found  it  beneficial.  The  patrons  kept  about 
them  persons  in  whom  they  had  confidence,  and  who  had  already 
been  engrafted  on  their  families ;  the  freed  persons,  grown  to 
honour  and  making  profit  could  create  property  for  themselves  and 
for  their  children.  I  cannot  discover  whether  the  Romans  had 
hireling  servants,  as  is  now  the  case.  They  liad  then  true  slaves  and 
sometimes  freed  persons.  This  being  the  case,  it  is  matter  of  sur 
prise  that  Pignoria,  in  treating  of  the  employment  of  the  ancient 
slaves,  should  have  been  so  perplexed  as  not  to  be  able  clearly  to  dis 
tinguish  slaves  from  freed  persons,  and  should  have  attributed  to 
the  former  many  employments  which  were  specially  reserved  for  the 
latter :  and  it  is  more  to  be  wondered  at,  that  marbles  which  speak 
of  freed  persons  are  referred  to  by  him  and  explained  as  treating 
of  slaves. 

It  is  clear  that  even  in  the  days  of  the  Emperor  Claudius,  to 
whose  reign,  A.  D.  45,  the  marble  of  which  he  treats  refers,  and 
probably  long  before  that  period,  many  of  the  freedmen  of  the 
Roman  empire  were  bound  to  do  certain  services  for  the  patrons 
who  had  been  their  masters,  and  that  this  obligation  descended  to 
their  progeny.  Hence  this  would  still  be  a  species  of  servitude. 

The  barbarians  who  overran  the  empire  came  chiefly  from 
Scythia  and  Germany,  as  that  vast  region  was  then  called  which 
stretches  from  the  Alps  to  the  Northern  Ocean.  When  they 
settled  in  the  conquered  provinces  of  Graul  and  in  Italy,  they 
introduced  many  of  their  customs  as  well  of  government  as  of 
policy.  Most  of  their  slaves  were  what  the  writers  of  the  second, 
third,  and  fourth  centuries  describe  as  coloni  and  conditionibus 
obligati.  As  Tacitus  describes,  in  xxv.  De  Moribus  Crermanorum : 

"  The  slaves  in  general  are  not  arranged  at  their  several  employ 
ments  in  the  household  affairs,  as  is  the  practice  at  Rome.  Each 
has  his  separate  habitation,  and  his  own  establishment  to  manage. 
The  master  considers  him  as  an  agrarian  dependant,  who  is 
obliged  to  furnish  a  certain  quantity  of  grain,  cattle,  or  wearing- 
apparel.  The  slave  obeys,  and  the  state  of  servitude  extends  no 
further.  All  domestic  affairs  are  managed  by  the  master's  wife 
and  children.  To  punish  a  slave  with  stripes,  to  load  him  with 
chains,  or  condemn  him  to  hard  labour,  is  unusual.  It  is  true 
that  slaves  are  sometimes  put  to  death,  not  under  colour  of  justice, 
or  of  any  authority  vested  in  the  master ;  but  in  a  transport  of 
passion,  in  a  fit  of  rage,  as  is  often  the  case  in  a  sudden  affray ; 
but  it  is  also  true  that  this  species  of  homicide  passes  with  impu- 


STUDIES   ON   SLA/ERY.  293 

nitj.  The  freedmen  are  not  of  much  higher  consideration  than 
the  actual  slaves  ;  they  obtain  no  rank  in  their  master's  family, 
and,  if  we  except  the  parts  of  Germany  where  monarchy  is  esta 
blished,  they  never  figure  on  the  stage  of  public  business.  In 
despotic  governments  they  often  rise  above  the  men  of  ingenuous 
birth,  and  even  eclipse  the  whole  body  of  the  nobles.  In  other 
states  the  subordination  of  the  freedmen  is  a  proof  of  public 
liberty." 

At  all  ages,  slaves  who  belonged  to  the  absolute  monarch,  some 
times  became  elevated  above  the  native  nobility  :  witness  the  case 
of  Joseph  in  Egypt ;  of  Ebed  Melech,  who  was  black,  in  Judea ; 
of  Hainan,  also  a  black,  an  Amalekite  ;  of  Mordecai,  his  successor ; 
of  Esther  the  queen  ;  of  Daniel  the  prophet,  and  Felix,  governor 
of  Judea,  a  Greek  slave  to  the  Roman  emperor.  But  such  things 
can  never  occur  in  a  republic.  To  a  political  misfortune  of  this 
kind  the  prophet  alludes — "Servants  (slaves)  have  ruled  over 
us" — than  which  nothing  can  be  more  expressive  of  the  loss  of 
liberty. 

In  the  appendix  to  the  Theodosian  code,  Const.  5,  we  read — 
Inverecunda;  arte  defendetur,  si  hi  ad  conditionem  vel  originem 
reposcuntur,  quibus  tempore  famis,  cum  in  mortem  penuria  coge- 
rentur,  opitulari  non  potuit  dominus  aut  patronus. 

It  is  forbidden  as  a  shameless  trick,  that  an  effart  should  be 
made  to  regain  to  their  condition  or  original  state,  those  whom  the 
master,  or  patron  could  not  aid,  when,  in  a  period  of  famine,  they 
were  pressed  nearly  to  death  by  want. 

This  exhibits  the  obligation  on  the  patron  of  the  person  under 
condition,  and  on  the  master  of  the  slave,  to  support  them,  and  the 
destruction  of  their  title  by  the  neglect  of  their  duty. 

Muratori  observes,  that  in  process  of  time,  the  special  agree 
ments  and  particular  enactments  regarding  the  conditions,  gave 
such  a  variety  as  baffled  all  attempts  at  classification  and  precision. 
At  a  much  earlier  period,  slaves  had  become  a  drug  in  the 
Italian  market.  When,  about  the  year  405,  Rhadagasius,  the 
Goth,  was  leading  upwards  of  three  hundred  thousand  of  his  bar 
barians  into  Italy,  the  Emperor  Honorius  ordered  the  slaves  to 
be  armed  for  the  defence  of  the  country,  by  which  arming  they 
generally  obtained  their  freedom ;  Stilichon,  the  consul,  slew 
nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  of  the  invaders  in  the 
vicinity  of  Florence,  and  made  prisoners  of  the  remainder,  who 
were  sold  as  slaves  at  the  low  price  of  one  piece  of  gold  for  each. 


294  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

Jacobs  estimates  the  aureus  at  eleven  shillings.  It  is  supposed 
to  have  contained  about  70  grains  of  gold,  which  will  make  the 
price  of  a  slave,  at  that  time,  about  $2.60.  But  Wilkins  (Leges 
Saxon.)  informs  us  that,  in  England,  about  the  year  1000,  the 
price  of  a  slave  was  £2  16s.  3d.  sterling,  not  quite  the  value  of  two 
horses.  But,  of  these  slaves  of  Stilichon,  numbers  died  within 
the  year,  so  that  Baronius  relates  (Annals,  A.  D.  406)  that  the 
purchasers  had  to  pay  more  for  their  burial  than  for  their  bodies ; 
according  to  the  remarks  of  Orosius,  in  this  state  of  the  market, 
it  was  easy  for  the  slave  to  procure  that  he  should  be  held  at  a 
condition,  and  thenceforth  the  number  under  condition  greatly  in 
creased,  and  in  process  of  time  became  more  numerous  than  those 
in  absolute  slavery. 

In  the  year  541,  the  fourth  council  of  Orleans  was  celebrated, 
in  the  thirtieth  year  of  King  Childebert.  The  ninth  canon: — Ut 
episcopus,  qui  de  facultate  propria  ecclesise  nihil  relinquit,  de  ec- 
clesise  facultate  si  quid  aliter  quam  canones  eloquuntur  obligaverit, 
vendiderit  aut  distraxerit,  ad  ecclesiam  revocetur,  (ab  ecclesia,  in 
other  editions.)  Sane  si  de  servis  ecclesise  libertos  fecit  numero 
competent!,  in  ingenuitate  permaneant,  ita  ut  ab  officio  ecclesise 
non  recedant. 

Be  it  enacted,  That  a  bishop  who  has  left  none  of  his  private 
property  to  the'  church  shall  not  dispose  of  any  of  the  church 
property,  otherwise  than  as  the  canons  point  out.  Should  he  bind 
or  sell  or  separate  any  thing  otherwise,  let  it  be  recalled  for  the 
church.  But  if,  indeed,  he  has  made  freemen  of  slaves  of  the 
church  to  a  reasonable  number,  let  them  continue  in  their  freedom, 
but  with  the  obligation  of  not  departing  from  the  duty  of  .the  church. 

The  canon  xxii.  of  the  same  council  is — 

Ut  servis  ecclesise,  vel  sacerdotum,  praedas  et  captivitates  ex- 
ercere  non  liceat;  qui  iniquum  est,  ut  quorum  domini  redemp- 
tionis  praestare  solent  suffragium,  per  servorum  excessum  disci- 
plina  ecclesiastica  maculetur. 

That  it  be  not  lawful  for  the  slaves  of  the  church,  or  of  the 
priests,  to  go  on  predatory  excursions  or  to  make  captives,  for  it 
is  unjust  that  when  the  masters  are  accustomed  to  aid  in  redeem 
ing,  the  discipline  of  the  church  should  be  disgraced  by  the  mis 
conduct  of  the  slaves. 

In  Judaism,  God  had  established  a  limited  sanctuary  for  slaves 
and  for  certain  malefactors,  not  to  encourage  crime,  but  to  protect 
against  the  fury  of  passion,  and  to  give  some  sort  of  aid  to  the 


STUDIES   ON  SLAVERY.  295 

feeble.  Paganism  adopted  the  principle,  and  the  Christian  temple 
and  its  precincts  became,  not  only  by  common  consent,  but  by 
legal  enactment,  the  sanctuary  instead  of  the  former.  Like  every 
useful  institution,  this  too  was  occasionally  abused. 

The  xxixth  canon  was — 

Quaecumque  mancipia  sub  specie  conjugii  ad  ecclesiae  septa 
confugerint,  ut  per  hoc  credant  posse  fieri  conjugium,  minime  eis 
licentia  tribuatur,  nee  talis  conjunctio  a  clericis  defensetur  :  quia 
probatum  est,  ut  sine  legitimai  traditione  conjuncti,  pro  religionis 
ordine,  statute  tempore  ab  Ecclesiae  communione  suspendantur,  ne 
in  sacris  locis  turpi  concubitu  misceantur.  De  qua;  re  decernimus, 
ut  parentibus  aut  propriis  dominis,  prout  ratio  poscit  personarum, 
accepta  fide  excusati  sub  separationis  promissione  reddantur :  post- 
modum  tamen  parentibus  atque  dominis  libertate  concessa,  si  eos 
voluerint  propria  voluntate  conjungere. 

Let  not  those  slaves  who,  under  pretext  of  marriage,  take  refuge 
within  the  precincts  of  the  church,  imagining  that  by  this  they 
would  make  a  marriage,  be  allowed  to  do  so,  nor  let  such  union  be 
countenanced  by  the  clergy :  for  it  has  been  regulated  that  they 
who  form,  an  union,  without  lawful  delivery,  should  be,  for  the 
good  order  of  religion,  separated  for  a  fixed  period  from  the  com 
munion  of  the  church,  so  that  this  vile  connection  may  be  pre 
vented  in  holy  places.  Wherefore  we  decree,  that  such  persons, 
being  declared  free  from  the  bond  of  any  plighted  faith  and  made 
to  promise  a  separation,  should  be  restored  to  their  parents  or 
owners,  as  the  case  may  require ;  to  be,  however,  subsequently,  if 
the  parents  or  owners  should  grant  leave,  married  with  their  own 
free  consent. 

As  we  have  seen  in  some  parts  of  the  East  at  an  earlier  period, 
now  in  this  portion  of  the  West,  the  slaves  were  made  incapable  of 
entering  into  the  marriage-contract  without  the  owner's  consent. 

In  this  same  council,  canon  xxx.,  provision  is  made  for  affording 
to  the  Christians,  who  are  held  as  slaves  by  the  Jews,  not  only 
sanctuary  of  the  church,  but  in  the  house  of  any  Christian,  until 
a  fair  price  shall  be  stipulated  for  and  paid  to  the  Jewish  owner, 
if  the  Christian  be  unwilling  to  return  to  his  service.  This  is  a 
clear  recognition  of  the  right  of  property  in  slaves. 

Canon  xxxi.  of  this  council  provides,  that  "  if  any  Jew  shall 
bring  a  slave  to  be  a  proselyte  to  his  religion,  or  make  a  Jew  of  a 
Christian  slave,  or  take  as  his  companion  a  Christian  female  slave, 
or  induce  a  slave  born  of  Christian  parents  to  become  a  Jew  under 


296  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

the  influence  of  a  promise  of  emancipation,  he  shall  lose  the  title 
to  every  such  slave.  And  further,  that  if  any  Christian  slave 
shall  become  a  Jew  for  the  sake  of  being  manumitted  with  condi 
tion,  and  shall  continue  to  be  a  Jew,  the  liberty  shall  be  lost  and 
the  condition  shall  not  avail  him." 

Canon  xxxii.  provides,  that  the  "  descendants  of  a  slave,  wher 
ever  they  may  be,  even  after  a  long  lapse  of  time,  though  there 
should  be  neglect,  if  found  upon  the  land  or  possession  upon  which 
their  parents  were  placed,  shall  be  held  to  the  original  conditions 
established  by  the  deceased  proprietor  for  the  deceased  parents,  and 
the  priest  of  the  place  shall  aid  in  enforcing  the  fulfilment,  and 
any  persons  who  shall  through  avarice  interpose  obstacles,  shall 
be  placed  under  church  censures." 

The  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  church  of  the  Franks  were 
like  that  of  other  churches  in  the  several  regions  of  Christendom 
at  this  period. 

A  fifth  council  was  held  at  Orleans,  in  the  year  549,  the  thirty- 
eighth  of  King  Childebert.  The  sixth  canon  of  this  council  relates  to 
the  improper  ordination  of  slaves,  and  also  exhibits  distinctly  the 
freedmen  under  condition,  classing  them  in  the  same  category  with 
slaves. 

Canon  vi.  Ut  servum,  qui  libertatem  a  dominis  propriis  non 
acceperit,  aut  etiam  jam  libertum,  nullus  episcoporum  absque  ejus 
tantum  voluntate,  cujus  aut  servus  est,  aut  eum  absolvisse  digno- 
scitur,  clericum  audeat  ordinare.  Quod  si  quisquam  fecerit,  si  qui 
ordinatus  est  a  domino  revocetur,  et  ille  qui  est  collator  ordinis,  si 
sciens  fecisse  probatur,  sex  inensibus  missas  tantum  facere  non 
prsesumat.  Si  vero  saecularium  servus  esse  convincitur,  ei  qui 
ordinatus  est  benedictione  servata,  honestum  ordini  domino  suo 
impendat  obsequium.  Quod  si  ssecularis  dominus  amplius  eum 
voluerit  inclinare,  ut  sacro  ordini  inferre  videatur  injuriam,  duos 
servos  sicut  antiqui  canones  habent,  episcopus  qui  eum  ordinavit 
domino  sseculari  restituat ;  et  episcopus  eum  quern  ordinavit  ad 
ecclesiam  suam  revocandi  habeat  potestatem. 

That  no  bishop  shall  dare  to  ordain  as  a  clergyman,  the  slave 
who  shall  not  have  received  licence  from  his  proper  owners,  or  a 
person  already  freed,  without  the  permission  of  either  the  person 
whose  servant  he  is,  or  of  the  person  who  is  known  to  have  freed 
him.  And  if  any  one  shall  do  so,  let  him  who  is  ordained  be  re 
called  by  his  master,  and  let  him  who  conferred  the  order,  if  it  be 
proved  that  he  did  so  knowing  the  state  of  the  person,  not  presume 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  £97 


to  celebrate  mass  for  six  months  only.  But  if  it  be  proved  that  he 
is  the  servant  of  lay  persons,  let  the  person  ordained  be  kept  in 
his  rank  and  do  service  for  his  owner  in  a  ivay  becoming  his  order  ; 
but  if  his  lay  oivner  debases  him  under  that  grade,  so  as  to  do 
any  dishonour  to  his  holy  order ;  let  the  bishop  who  ordained  him 
give,  as  the  ancient  canons  enact,  two  slaves  to  his  master,  and  be 
empowered  to  take  him  whom  he  ordained  to  his  church. 

The  canon  regards  manumission,  and  the  protection  of  those 
properly  liberated  from  slavery,  against  the  injustice  of  persons 
who  disregarded  the  legal  absolution  from  service. 

Canon  xii.  Et  quia  plurimorum  suggestione  comperimus,  eos 
qui  in  ecclesiis  juxta  patrioticam  consuetudinem  a  servitio  fu- 
erint  absoluti,  pro  libito  quorumcumque  iterum  ad  servitium  revo- 
cari,  impium  esse  tractavimus,  ut  quod  in  ecclesia  Dei  considera- 
tione  a  vinculo  servitutis  absolvitur,  irritum  habeatur.  Ideo 
pietatis  causa  communi  consilio  placuit  observandum,  ut  qusecum- 
que  mancipia  ab  ingenuis  dominis  servitute  laxantur,  in  ea  libertate 
maneant,  quam  tune  a  dominis  perceperunt.  Hujusmodi  quoque 
libertas  si  a  quocumque  pulsata  fuerit,  cum  justitia  ab  ecclesiis 
defendatur,  praster  eas  culpas  pro  quibus  leges  collatas  servis 
revocare  jusserunt  libertates. 

And  since  we  have  discovered  by  information  from  several,  that 
they  who,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  country,  were  absolved 
from  slavery  in  the  Churches,  were  again,  at  the  will  of  some  per 
sons,  reduced  to  slavery  ;  we  have  regarded  it  to  be  an  impiety ; 
that  what  has  by  a  judicial  decree  been  absolved  from  servitude  in 
the  church  of  Grod,  should  be  set  at  nought.  Wherefore,  through 
motives  of  piety,  it  is  decreed  by  common  counsel  to  be  henceforth 
observed,  that  whatever  slaves  are  freed  from  servitude  by  free- 
masters  are  to  remain  in  that  freedom  which  they  then  received 
from  the  masters  ;  and  should  this  liberty  of  theirs  be  assailed  by 
any  person,  it  shall  be  defended  within  the  limits  of  justice  by 
the  churches,  saving  where  there  are  crimes  for  which  the  laws 
have  enacted  that  the  liberty  granted  to  servants  shall  be  recalled. 

It  is  quite  evident,  from  Exodus  xii.  44,  that  the  Israelites,  who 
were  themselves  slaves  in  Egypt,  also  themselves  possessed  slaves. 
Also  from  Nehemiah  vii.  67,  that  the  Jews  who  were  slaves  in 
Babylon,  yet,  upon  their  liberation,  were  found  to  own  7837  slaves  ; 
and  from  the  foregoing  it  appears  that  the  persons  then  called 
liberti  or  freedmen,  or  the  conditional  or  persons  under  condition, 
and  probably,  in  some  instances,  coloni  or  colonists,  had  slaves,  but 


298  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


were  not  permitted  to  liberate  them,  at  least  without  the  consent 
of  their  own  masters,  for  the  canon  speaks  of  only  the  servants  of 
the  ingenui,  or  those  who  enjoyed  perfect  freedom.  We  see,  also, 
what  is  evident  from  many  other  sources,  that  persons  who  had  ob 
tained  their  freedom  were  for  some  crimes  reduced  to  servitude, 
and  we  shall  see,  in  future  times,  even  freemen  are  enslaved  for 
various  offences. 

Again,  in  the  canon  xxii.  of  this  council,  we  find  provision 
which  exhibits  the  caution  which  was  used  in  regulating  the  right 
of  sanctuary  for  slaves.  This  right  was,  in  Christianity,  a  concession 
of  the  civil  power,  humanely  interposing,  in  times  of  imperfect 
security  and  violent  passion,  the  protecting  arm  of  the  church,  to 
arrest  the  violence  of  one  party,  so  as  to  secure  merciful  justice  for 
the  other,  and  to  make  the  compositions  of  peace  and  equity  be 
substituted  for  the  vengeance  or  the  exactions  of  power.  It  was, 
so  far  from  being  an  encouragement  to  crime,  one  of  the  best 
helps  towards  civilizing  the  barbarian. 

Canon  xxii.  De  servis  vero,  qui  pro  qualibet  culpa  ad  ec- 
clesise  septa  confugerint,  id  statuimus  observandum,  ut,  sicut  in 
antiquis  constitutionibus  tenetur  scriptum,  pro  concessa  culpa  datis 
a  domino  sacramentis,  quisquis  ille  fuerit,  egrediatur  de  venia  jam 
securus.  Enimvero  si  immemor  fidei  dominus  transcendisse  con- 
vincitur  quod  juravit,  ut  is  qui  veniam  acceperat,  probetur  post- 
modum  pro  ea  cum  qualicumque  supplicio  cruciatus,  dominus  ille, 
qui  immemor  fuit  datae  fidei,  sit  ab  omnium  communione  suspensus. 
Iterum  si  servus  de  promissione  veniae  datis  sacramentis  a  domino 
jam  securus  exire  noluerit,  ne  sub  tali  contumacia  requirens  locum 
fugae  domino  fortasse  disperiat,  egredi  nolentem  a  domino  eum 
liceat  occupari,  ut  nullam,  quasi  pro  retentatione  servi,  quibuslibet 
modis  molestiam  aut  caluinniam  patiatur  ecclesia :  fidem  tamen 
dominus,  quam  pro  concessa  venia"  dedit,  nulla  temeritate  tran- 
scendat.  Quod  si  aut  gentilis  dominus  fuerit,  aut  alterius  sectae, 
qui  a  conventu  ecclesiae  probatur  extraneus,  is  qui  servum  repetit 
personas  requirat  bonae  fidei  Christianas,  ut  ipsi  in  persona;  domini 
servo  praebeant  sacramenta :  quia  ipsi  possunt  servare  quod  sacrum 
est,  qui  pro  transgressione  ecclesiasticam  nietuunt  disciplinam. 

We  enact  this  to  be  observed  respecting  slaves,  who  may  for  any 
fault  fly  to  the  precincts  of  the  church,  that,  as  is  found  written  in 
ancient  constitutions,  when  the  master  shall  pledge  his  oath  to 
grant  pardon  to  the  culprit,  whosoever  he  may  be,  he  shall  go  out 
secure  of  pardon.  But,  if  the  master,  unmindful  of  his  oath, 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  299 


be  convicted  of  having  gone  begond  what  he  had  sworn,  so 
that  it  shall  be  proved  that  the  servant  who  had  received  pardon 
was  afterwards  tortured  with  any  punishment  for  that  fault,  let 
that  master  who  was  forgetful  of  his  oath  be  separated  from  the 
communion  of  all.  Again,  should  the  servant  secured  from  pu 
nishment  by  the  master  s  oath,  be  unwilling  to  go  forth,  it  shall  be 
laivful  for  the  master,  that  he  should  not  lose  the  service  of  a  slave 
seeking  sanctuary  by  such  contumacy,  to  seize  upon  such  a  one  un 
willing  to  go  out,  so  that  the  church  should  not  suffer  either  trouble 
or  calumny  by  any  means  on  account  of  retaining  such,  servant  : 
but  let  not  the  master  in  any  way  rashly  violate  the  oath  that  he 
swore  for  granting  pardon.  But,  if  the  master  be  a  gentile,  or 
of  any  other  sect  proved  without  the  church,  let  the  person  who 
claims  the  slave  procure  Christian  persons  of  good  account  who 
shall  swear  for  the  servant's  security  in  the  master  s  name :  because 
they  who  dread  ecclesiastical  discipline  for  transgression  can  keep 
that  which  is  sacred. 


LESSON  IX. 

BISHOP  ENGLAND  has,  in  his  eighth  letter,  alluded  to  the  state  of 
society  in  England  and  Ireland  at  this  early  day,  for  the  purpose 
of  elucidating  the  fact  that  the  doctrines  of  the  church  concerning 
slavery  and  the  civil  condition  of  those  regions  were  materially 
without  difference  from  the  other  parts  of  Europe.  Some  portions 
of  his  letter,  although,  perhaps,  too  distant  from  our  subject,  are, 
nevertheless,  too  interesting  to  omit. 

About  the  year  462,  Niell  Naoigiallach,  or  Neill  of  the  Nine 
Hostages,  ravaged  the  coast  of  Britain  and  Gaul.  In  this  expe 
dition  a  large  number  of  captives  were  made.  One  youth,  sixteen 
years  of  age,  by  the  name  of  Cothraige,  was  sold  to  Milcho,  and 
was  employed  by  him  in  tending  sheep,  in  a  place  called  Dalradia 
—within  the  present  county  of  Antrim.  This  Cothraige  was  St. 
Patrick,  subsequently  the  apostle  of  Ireland. 

St.  Patrick,  in  his  Confessions,  states  that  many  of  his  unfortu 
nate  countrymen  were  carried  off  and  made  captives,  and  dispersed 
among  many  nations. 

The  Romans    had  possession   of   Britain,   and    even    had    not 


800  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


slavery  existed  there  previously,  they  would  have  introduced  it ; 
but,  the  Britons  needed  not  this  lesson ;  they  had  been  conversant 
with  it  before :  we  shall  see  evidence  of  the  long  continuance  of 
its  practice. 

About  the  year  450,  a  party  of  them,  among  whom  were 
several  that  professed  the  Christian  religion,  made  a  piratical  in 
cursion  upon  the  Irish  coast,  under  the  command  of  Corotic,  or 
Caractacus,  or  Coroticus. 

Lanigan  compiles  the  following  account  of  this  incursion  from 
the  JEccles.  History  of  Ireland,  vol.  i.  c.  iv. 

"This  prince,  Coroticus,  though  apparently  a  Christian,  was  a 
tyrant,  a  pirate,  and  a  persecutor.  He  landed,  with  a  party  of  his 
armed  followers,  many  of  whom  were  Christians,  at  a  season  of 
solemn  baptism,  and  set  about  plundering  a  district  in  which  St. 
Patrick  had  just  baptized  and  confirmed  a  great  number  of  con 
verts,  and  on  the  very  day  after  the  holy  chrism  was  seen  shining 
in  the  foreheads  of  the  white-robed  neophytes.  Having  murdered 
several  persons,  these  marauders  carried  oft*  a  considerable  number 
of  people,  whom  they  went  about  selling  or  giving  up  as  slaves  to 
the  Scots  and  the  apostate  Picts.  St.  Patrick  wrote  a  letter, 
which  he  sent  by  a  holy  priest  whom  he  had  instructed  from  his 
younger  days,  to  those  pirates,  requesting  of  them  to  restore  the 
baptized  captives  and  some  part  of  the  booty.  The  priest  and  the 
other  ecclesiastics  that  accompanied  him  being  received  by  them 
with  scorn  and  mockery,  and  the  letter  not  attended  to,  the  saint 
found  himself  under  the  necessity  of  issuing  a  circular  epistle  or 
declaration  against  them  and  their  chief  Coroticus,  in  which,  an 
nouncing  himself  a  bishop  and  established  in  Ireland,  he  proclaims 
to  all  those  who  fear  God,  that  said  murderers  and  robbers  are 
excommunicated  and  estranged  from  Christ,  and  that  it  is  not 
lawful  to  show  them  civility,  nor  to  eat  or  drink  with  them,  nor  to 
receive  their  offerings,  until,  sincerely  repenting,  they  make  atone 
ment  to  God  and  liberate  his  servants  and  the  handmaids  of  Christ. 
He  begs  of  the  faithful,  into  whose  hands  the  epistle  may  come,  to 
get  it  read  before  the  people  everywhere,  and  before  Coroticus 
himself,  and  to  communicate  it  to  his  soldiers,  in  the  hope  that 
they  and  their  master  may  return  to  God,  &c.  Among  other  very 
affecting  expostulations,  he  observes  that  the  Roman  and  Gallic 
Christians  are  wont  to  send  proper  persons  with  great  sums  of 
money  to  the  Franks  and  other  pagans,  for  the  purpose  of  redeem 
ing  Christian  captives ;  while,  on  the  contrary,  that  monster, 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  301 

Coroticus,  made  a  trade  of  selling  the  members  of  Christ  to  nations 
ignorant  of  God." 

The  Britons  were  frequently  invaded  by  the  Scots,  upon  the 
abandonment  of  their  country  by  the  Romans ;  and  at  the  period 
here  alluded  to,  it  is  supposed  by  many  that  the  captives  taken 
from  Ireland  were  in  several  instances  given  by  their  possessors 
to  the  plundering  and  victorious  Northmen,  by  the  Britons,  in  ex 
change  for  their  own  captured  relatives,  whom  they  desired  to 
release. 

About  the  year  555,  Pope  Pelagius  held,  under  the  protection 
of  King  Childebert,  the  third  council  of  Paris,  in  which  we  find  a 
canon,  entitled,  "De  Servis  Degeneribus,"  concerning  "bastard 
slaves,"  as  follows:  (See  Du  Cange.) 

Canon  ix.  De  degeneribus  servis,  qui  pro  sepulchris  defunctorum 
pro  qualitate  ipsius  ministerii  deputantur,  hoc  placuit  observari,  ut 
sub  qua;  ab  auctoribus  fuerint  conditione  dimissi,  sive  heredibus, 
sive  ecclesiis  pro  defensione  fuerint  deputati,  voluntas  defuncti 
circa  eos  in  omnibus  debeat  observari.  Quod  si  ecclesia  eos  de  fisci 
functionibus  in  omni  parte  defenderit  ecclesiae  tarn  illi,  quam  posteri 
eorum,  defensione  in  omnibus  potiantur,  et  occursum  impendant. 

It  is  enacted  concerning  bastard  slaves  who  are  placed  to  keep 
the  sepulchres,  because  of  the  rank  of  that  office,  that  whether  they 
be  placed  under  the  protection  of  the  heirs  or  of  the  church  for  their 
defence,  upon  the  condition  upon  which  they  were  discharged  by 
their  owners,  the  will  of  the  deceased  should  be  observed  in  all 
things  in  their  regard.  But,  if  the  church  shall  keep  them  en 
tirely  exempt  from  the  services  and  payments  of  the  fisc,  let  them 
and  their  descendants  enjoy  the  protection  of  the  church  for  de 
fence,  and  pay  to  it  their  tribute. 

The  auctores,  or  authors,  in  the  original  sense,  were  owners  or 
masters  ;  and  subsequently,  especially  in  Gaul,  it  was  often  taken 
to  mean  parents,  which  probably,  from  the  context,  is  here  its 
meaning ;  and,  we  find  a  new  title  and  a  new  class,  where  the  mas 
ter  having  committed  a  crime  with  his  servant,  the  offspring  was 
his  slave  ;  .yet,  his  natural  affection  caused  the  parent  to  grant  him 
a  conditioned  freedom,  to  protect  which  this  canon  specified  the 
guardian  to  be  either  the  heir  or  the  church. 

Martin,  archbishop  of  Braga,  who  presided  at  the  third  council 
of  that  city,  in  the  year  572,  collected,  from  the  councils  of  the 
east  and  the  west,  the  greater  portion  of  the  canon  law  then  in 
force,  and  made  a  compendium  thereof,  which  he  distributed  into 


302  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


eighty-four  heads,  which  formed  as  many  short  canons,  and  thence 
forth  they  were  the  basis  of  the  discipline  in  Spain. 

The  forty-sixth  of  these  canons  is — 

Si  quis  obligatus  tribute  servili,  vel  aliqua  conditione,  vel  pa 
trocinio  cujuslibet  domus,  non  est  ordinandus  clericus,  nisi  pro- 
bandae  vitse  fuerit  et  patroni  concessus  accesserit. 

If  any  one  is  bound  to  servile  tribute,  or  by  any  condition,  or 
by  the  patronage  of  any  house,  he  is  not  to  be  ordained  a  clergy 
man,  unless  lie  be  of  approved  life,  and  the  consent  of  the  patron 
be  also  given. 

This  canon  is  taken  into  the  body  of  the  canon  law.  Dist.  58. 

Canon  xlvii.  Si  quis  servum  alienum  causa;  religionis  doceat 
contemnere  dominum  suum  et  recedere  &  servitio  ejus,  durissime 
ab  omnibus  arguatur. 

If  any  person  will  teach  the  servant  of  another,  under  pretext 
of  religion,  to  despise  his  master  and  to  withdraw  from  his  service, 
let  him  be  most  sharply  rebuked  by  all. 

This  too  is  taken  into  the  body  of  the  canon  law.  (17,  q.  4, 
Si  quis.) 

In  the  year  589,  the  third  council  of  Toledo,  in  Spain,  was  cele 
brated,  in  the  pontificate  of  Pope  Pelagius  II.  All  the  bishops 
of  Spain  assembled  upon  the  invitation  of  King  Reccared. 

The  articles  of  faith  form  twenty-three  heads  of  various  length ; 
after  which  follow  twenty-three  capitula,  or  little  chapters  or  heads 
of  discipline. 

The  sixth  of  these  is  in  the  following  words : 

De  libertis  autem  id  Dei  praecipiunt  sacerdotes,  ut  si  qui  ab 
episcopis  facti  sunt  secundum  modum  quo  canones  antiqui  dant 
licentiam,  sint  liberi;  et  tamen  a  patrocinio  ecclesise  tarn  ipsi, 
quam  ab  eis  progeniti  non  recedant.  Ab  aliis  quoque  libertati 
traditi,  et  ecclesiis  commendati,  patrocinio  episcopal!  regantur : 
a  principe  hoc  episcopus  postulet. 

The  priests  of  God  decree  concerning  freedmen,  that  if  any  arc, 
made  by  the  bishops  in  the  way  the  ancient  canons  permit,  they 
shall  be  considered  free  ;  yet  so  that  neither  they  nor  their  descend 
ants  shall  retire  from  the  patronage  of  the  church.  Let  those 
freed  by  others  and  placed  under  the  protection  of  the  church,  be, 
placed  under  the  bishop's  protection.  Let  the' bishop  ask  this  of 
his  prince. 

This  too  is  taken  into  the  body  of  the  canon  law.  (12,  q.  2, 
De  libertis.} 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


A  custom  had  already  gained  considerable  prevalence,  which  we 
shall  find  greatly  extended  in  subsequent  ages,  of  granting  to  the 
churches  slaves  for  its  service  and  support.  The  administrators 
of  the  church  property  were  called  familia  fisci.  The  church 
property  was  in  ecclesiastical  documents  styled  the  fisc.  The  fisca 
regis,  or  royal  fisc,  was  a  different  fund  or  treasury.  It  sometimes 
happened  that  the  clergy  who  were  the  administrators  sought  to 
obtain  from  the  "  conditioned  slaves"  more  than  they  were  bound 
to  give,  and  also,  sometimes,  others  sought  to  have  their  service 
taken  from  the  church.  The  capitulary  viii.  of  this  third  council 
of  Toledo  was  enacted  to  remedy  this  latter  grievance. 

Innuente  (other  copies,  jubente)  atque  consentiente  domino 
piissimo  Reccaredo  rege,  id  prsecipit  sacerdotale  consilium,  ut  cleri- 
corum  (others,  clericos)  ex  famiM  fisci  nullus  audeat  a  principe 
donates  expetere  ;  sed  reddito  capitis  sui  tribute  ecclesise  Dei,  cui 
sunt  alligati,  usque  dum  vivent,  regulariter  administrent. 

By  the  suggestion  (or  by  the  command]  and  with  the  consent  of 
the  most  pious  lord  King  Reccared,  the  council  of  priests  directs 
that  no  one  shall  dare  to  reclaim  from  the  administrators  of  the 
church  those  clergy  given  by  the  prince  ;  but  having  paid  their  tri 
bute  to  the  church  of  G-od,  to  which  they  are  bound,  let  them,  as  long 
as  they  live,  administer  regularly. 

In  the  same  council,  the  canon  xv.  is  the  following  : 
Si  qui  ex  servis  fiscalibus  ecclesias  forte  construxerint  easque 
de  suai  paupertate  ditaverint,  hoc  procuret  episcopus  prece  sua,  auc- 
toritate  regia  confirmari. 

If  any  of  the  king's  special  servants  shall  have  built  churches, 
and  have  enriched  them  by  the  contributions  from  their  poverty, 
let  the  bishop  obtain  that  it  be  confirmed  by  the  royal  authority. 

The  servi  fiscales  were  the  private  or  patrimonial  property  of 
the  king. 

This  also  exhibits  the  principle  that  the  slave  was  not  permitted 
to  contribute,  without  the  consent  of  his  owner,  to  religious  esta 
blishments. 

A  canon  of  the  assembly  held  in  Constantinople,  692: 
Canon  Ixxxv.  In  duobus  vel  tribus  testibus  confirmari  omne 
verbum  ex  Scriptura  accepimus.  Servos  ergo  qui  a  dominis  suis 
manumittuntur,  sub  tribus  testibus  eo  frui  honore  decernimus, 
qui  prsesentes  libertati  vires  et  firmitatem  afferent,  et  ut  iis  quse 
ipsis  testibus  facta  sunt  fides  habeatur  efficient. 

We  have  learned  from  the  Scripture  that  every  word  is  con- 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


firmed  in  two  or  three  witnesses.  We  therefore  declare  that  slaves 
who  are  manumitted  by  their  masters  shall  be  admitted  to  enjoy 
that  honour  under  three  witnesses,  who  may  be  able  to  afford  secu 
rity  by  their  presence  to  the  freedom,  and  who  may  be  able  to  secure 
credit  for  the  acts  done  in  their  view. 


LESSON  X. 

As  late  as  the  year  577,  Britain  furnished  other  nations  with 
slaves,  which  is  sufficiently  proved  by  the  following  extract  from 
Bede: 

Nee  silentio  prsetereunda  opinio  quse  de  beato  Gregorio,  tra- 
ditione  major-urn,  ad  nos  usque  perlata  est :  qua  videlicet  ex  caus& 
adraonitus,  tarn  sedulam  erga  salutem  nostrae  gentis  curara  gesserit. 
Dicunt,  quia  die  quadam  cum  advenientibus  nuper  mercatoribus 
multa  venalia  in  forum  fuissent  conlata,  multique  ad  emenduui 
confluxissent,  et  ipsum  Gregorium  inter  alios  advenisse,  ac  vidisse 
inter  alia  pueros  venales  positos,  candidi  corporis  ac  venusti  vultus, 
capillorum  quoque  forma1  egregia,.  Quos  cum  aspiceret,  interro- 
gavit,  ut  ajunt,  de  qua  regione  vel  terra  essent  adlati.  Dictumque 
est  quod  de  Brittania,  insult,  cujus  incolse  talis  essent  aspectiis. 
Rursus  interrogavit,  utrum  iidem  insulani,  Christiani,  an  paganis 
adhuc  erroribus  essent  implicati?  Dictumque  est,  quod  essent 
pagani.  At  ille  intimo  ex  corde  longa  tr aliens  suspiria :  "  Heu, 
proh  dolor  !"  inquit,  "  quod  tarn  lucidi  vultus  homines  tenebrarum 
auctor  possidet,  tantaque  gratia  frontispicii  mentem  ab  interna 
gratia,  vacuam  gestat!"  Rursus  ergo  interrogavit,  quod  esset 
vocabulum  gentis  illius  ?  Responsum  est  quod  Angli  vocarentur. 
At  ille,  "BeneV  inquit,  "nam  et  angelicam  habent  faciem,  et  tales 
angelorum  in  coelis  decet  esse  coheredes.  Quod  habet  nomen  ipsa 
provincia  de  qua  isti  sunt  adlati  ?"  Responsum  est  quod  Deiri 
vocarentur  iidem  provinciales.  At  ille :  "  BeneV '  inquit,  "  Deiri,  de 
ir&  eruti,  et  ad  misericordiam  Christi  v-ocati.  Rex  provinciae 
illius,  quomodo  appellatur?"  Responsum  est  quod  Aella  dice- 
retur.  At  ille  adludens  ad  nomen  ait :  "  Alleluia,  laudem  Dei 
creatoris  illis  in  partibus  oportet  cantari."  Accedensque  ad  Ponti- 
ficem  Romans  et  Apostolicaa  sedis,  nondum  enim  erat  ipse  Pon- 
tifex  factus,  rogavit,  ut  genti  Angliorum  in  Britanniam  aliquos 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

verbi  ministros,  per  quos  ad  Christum  converterentur,  mitteret : 
seipsum  paratum  esse  in  hoc  opus  Domino  co-operante  perficien- 
dum,  si  tamen  Apostolico  Papae  hoc  ut  fieret  placeret.  Quod 
dum  perficere  non  posset ;  quia  etsi  pontifex  concedere  illi  quod 
petierat  voluit,  non  tamen  cives  Roman!  ut  tarn  longe  ab  urbe 
recederet  potuere  permittere ;  mox  ut  ipse  pontificates  officio 
functus  est,  perficit  opus  diu  desideratum  :  alios  quidem  prsedica- 
tores  mittens,  sed  ipse  praedicationem  ut  fructificaret  suis  exhor- 
tationibus  et  precibus  adjuvans. 

Nor  is  that  notice  of  the  blessed  Gregory  which  has  come  down 
to  us  by  the  tradition  of  our  ancestors  to  be  silently  passed  over ; 
for,  by  reason  of  the  admonition  that  he  then  received,  he  became  so 
industrious  for  the  salvation  of  our  nation.  For  they  say,  that  on 
a  certain  day  when  merchants  had  newly  arrived,  many  things 
were  brought  into  the  market,  and  several  persons  had  come  to  pur 
chase  ;  Gregory  himself  came  among  them,  and  saw  exposed  for 
sale,  youths  of  a  fair  body  and  handsome  countenance,  whose  hair 
was  also  beautiful.  Looking  at  them,  they  say,  he  asked  from  what 
part  of  the  world  they  were  brought ;  lie  was  told  from  the  island 
of  Britain,  whose  inhabitants  were  of  that  complexion.  Again  he 
asked  whether  these  islanders  were  Christians  or  were  immersed  in 
the  errors  of  paganism,  It  was  said,  that  they  were  pagans. 
And  he,  sighing  deeply,  said,  "Alas!  what  a  pity  that  the  author  of 
darkness  should  possess  men  of  so  bright  a  countenance,  and  that 
so  graceful  an  aspect  should  have  a  mind  void  of  grace  within!" 
Again  he  inquired  what  was  the  name  of  their  nation.  He  was 
told  that  they  were  called  Angles.  He  said,  « It  is  well,  for  they 
have  angelic  faces,  and  it  is  fit  that  such  should  be  the  coheirs  with 
Angels  in  Heaven."  From  what  province  were  they  brought,  was 
his  next  inquiry.  To  which  it  was  answered,  The  people  of  their 
province  are  called  Deiri.  «  Good  again,"  said  he,  «  Deiri,  (de  ird 
eruti,)  rescued  from  anger  and  called  to  the  mercy  of  Christ." 
What  is  the  name  of  the  king  of  that  province  ?  He  was  told, 
Aella.  And,  playing  upon  the  word,  he"  responded,  "Alleluia.  Tht 
praise*  of  Crod  our  Creator  ought  to  be  chanted  in  those  regions." 
And  going  to  the  pontiff  of  the  Roman  Apostolic  See,  for  he  was 
not  yet  made  pope  himself,  he  besought  him  to  send  to  Britain,  for 
the  nation  of  the  Angles,  some  ministers  of  the  word,  through  whom 
they  may  be  converted  to  Ch$st ;  and  stated  that  he  ivas  himself 
ready,  the  Lord  being  his  aid,  to  undertake  this  work,  if  the  pope 
should  so  please.  This  he  was  not  able  to  do,  for  though  the  pon- 

20 


306  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


tiff  desired  to  grant  his  petition,  the  citizens  of  Rome  would  not 
consent  that  he  should  go  to  so  great  distance  therefrom.  As  soon, 
however,  as  he  was  placed  in  the  office  of  pope,  he  performed  his 
long  desired  work :  he  sent  other  preachers,  but  he  aided  by  his 
prayers  and  exhortations,  that  he  might  make  their  preaching 
fruitful. 

Gregory  became  pope  in  590.  Soon  after  his  elevation  to  the 
pontifical  dignity,  he  sought  to  purchase  some  of  the  British 
youths,  in  order  to  have  them  trained  up  to  be  missionaries  to 
their  countrymen. 

The  holy  see  had  already  a  considerable  patrimony  in  Gaul, 
bestowed  by  the  piety  of  the  faithful :  we  shall  see  from  the  fol 
lowing  epistle  of  the  pope  to  the  priest  Candidus,  whom  he  sent  as 
its  administrator,  the  use  which  was  made  of  its  income. 

Lib.  v.  Epist.  x. — GREGORIUS  Candido  Presbytero  eunti  ad 
patrimonium  Gallise. 

Pergens  auxiliante  Domino  Deo  nostro  Jesu  Christo  ad  patri 
monium,  quod  est  in  Galliis  gubernandum,  volumus  ut  dilectio  tua 
ex  solidis  quos  acceperit,  vestimenta  pauperum,  vel  pueros  Anglos, 
qui  sunt  ab  annis  decem  et  septem,  vel  decem  et  octo,  ut  in  mona- 
steriis  dati  Deo  proficiant,  comparet ;  quatenus  solidi  Galliarum, 
qui  in  terra  nostra  expendi  non  possunt,  apud  locum  proprium 
utiliter  expendantur.  Si  quid  vero  de  pecuniis  redituum,  quse 
dicuntur  ablatae,  recipere  potueris,  ex  his  quoque  vestimenta  pau 
perum  comparare  te  volumus  ;  vel,  sicut  prsefati  sumus,  pueros  qui 
in  omnipotentis  Dei  servitio  proficiant.  Sed  quia  pagani  sunt,  qui 
illic  inveniri  possunt,  volo,  ut  cum  eis  presbyter  transmittatur,  ne 
quid  segritudinis  contingat  in  vi&,  ut  quos  morituros  conspexerit 
debeat  baptizare.  Ita  igitur  tua  dilectio  faciat,  ut  hgec  diligenter 
implere  festinet. 

GREGORY  to  the  Priest  Candidus,  going  to  the  patrimony  of 
G-aul. 

As  you  are  going,  with  aid  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  our  God, 
to  govern  the  patrimony  which  is  in  G-aul ;  we  desire  that  out  of 
the  shillings  you  may  receive,  you,  our  beloved,  should  purchase 
Clothing  for  the  poor,  or  English  youths  about  the  age  of  seventeen 
or  eighteen,  that,  being  placed  in  monasteries,  they  may  be  useful  for 
the  service  of  God  ;  so  that  the  money  of  Gaul,  which  ought  not  to 
be  expended  in  our  land,  may  be  laid  out  in  its  own  place  benefi 
cially.  If  you  can  also  get  any  of  the  money  of  that  income  called 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  397 

tolls,  (ablatae,)  we  also  desire  that  you  should  therewith  buy  clothing 
for  the  poor,  or,  as  we  have  before  said,  youths  who  may  become  pro 
ficients  in  the  service  of  God.  But  as  they  who  dwell  in  that 
place  are  pagans,  it  is  our  desire  that  a  priest  be  sent  with  them 
lest  they  should  get  sick  on  the  journey,  and  he  ought  to  baptize 
those  whom  he  may  see  in  a  dying  state.  So  let  you,  our  beloved, 
do,  and  be  alert  in  fulfilling  what  we  have  desired. 

• 

The  commission  of  Pope  Gregory  to  purchase  those  youths  was 
executed.  But,  as  Lingard  observes,  (Ant.  Anglo-Saxon  Chu.  c.  i.,) 
"  their  progress  was  slow,  and  his  zeal  impatient."  The  result 
was  that  St.  Augustine  and  his  companions  were  sent  by  the  pope, 
and  effected  the  conversion  of  the  island. 

In  the  same  chapter,  Lingard  describes  the  Saxons  who  had 
settled  in  England,  previous  to  their  conversion,  and  refers  to 
Will,  of  Malmesbury  (de  reg.  1.  i.,  c.  3.) 

"  The  savages  of  Africa  may  traffic  with  the  Europeans  for  the 
negroes  whom  they  have  seized  by  treachery,  or  captured  in  open 
war;  but  the  most  savage  conquerors  of  the  Britons  sold  without 
scruple,  to  the  merchants  of  the  continent,  their  countrymen,  and 
even  their  own  children." 

^  "  But  their  ferocity  soon  yielded  to  the  exertions  of  the  mis 
sionaries,  and  the  harsher  features  of  their  origin  were  insensibly 
softened  under  the  mild  influence  of  the  gospel.  In  the  rage  of 
victory,  they  learned  to  respect  the  rights  of  humanity.  Death  or 
slavery  was  no  longer  the  fate  of  the  conquered  Britons  ;  by  their 
submission,  they  were  incorporated  with  the  victors  ;  and  their 
lives  and  property  were  protected  by  the  equity  of  their  Christian 
conquerors.  *  *  The  humane  idea,  that  by  baptism  all 

men  become  brethren,  contributed  to  meliorate  the  condition  of 
slavery,  and  scattered  the  seeds  of  that  liberality  which  gradually 
undermined,  and  at  length  abolished,  so  odious  an  institution.  By 
the  provision  of  the  legislature,  the  freedom  of  the  child  was 
secured  from  the  avarice  of  an  unnatural  parent ;  and  the  heaviest 
punishment  was  denounced  against  the  man  who  presumed  to  sell 
to  a  foreign  master  one  of  his  countrymen,  though  he  were  a  slave 
or  a  malefactor." 

Lingard  here  refers  to  the  statutes  of  Ina,  quoted  in  a  previous 
study.  But  it  may  be  remarked  that  here  is  the  earliest  notice  of 
the  African  slave-trade,  as  a  branch  of  European  commerce,  com 
pared  with  the  ancient  slave-trade  carried  on  with  Britain. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

In  his  book,  "  Pastoralis  Curse,"  Of  the  Pastoral  Care,  part  3, 
c.  i.  Admonit.  vi.,  Pope  Gregory  says— 

ADMONITIO  vi.  —  Aliter  admonendi  sunt  servi,  atque  aliter 
domini.  Servi  scilicet,  ut  in  se  semper  humilitatem  conditions 
aspiciant :  domini  vero,  ut  nature  suse  qua  sequaliter  sunt  cum 
servis  conditi,  memoriam  non  amittant.  Servi  admonendi  sunt 
ne  dominos  despiciant,  ne  Deum  offendant  si  ordinationi  illius  su- 
perbiendo  contradicunt :  domini  quoque  admonendi  sunt,^  quia 
contra  Deum  de  munere  ejus  superbiunt,  si  eos  quos  per  conditioner!! 
tenent  subditos,  sequales  sibi  per  naturae  consortium  non  agnoscunt. 
Isti  admonendi  sunt  ut  sciant  se  servos  esse  dominorum :  illi  ad 
monendi  sunt  ut  cognoscant  se  conserves  esse  servorum.  Istis 
namque  dicitur :  Servi,  obedite  dominis  carnalibm.  Et  rursum : 
Quicumque  sunt  sub  jugo  servi,  dominos  suos  omni  honore  dignos 
arbitrentur:  illis  autem  dicitur:  et  vos,  domini,  eadem  facite  illis, 
remittentes  minas,  scientes  quod  et  illorum  et  vester  dominus  est  in 

coelis. 

ADMONITION  vi.— Servants  are  to  be  admonished  in  oneway,  m&s- 
ters  in  another  way:    servants  indeed,   that  they  should  always 
regard  in  themselves  the  loivlmess  of  their  condition :  masters  how 
ever,  that  they  lose  not  the  recollection  of  their  nature,  by  which  they 
are  created  upon  a  level  with  their  slaves.    Slaves  are  to  be  admo 
nished  not  to  despise  their  masters,  lest  they  offend  God,  if  growing 
proud  they  contradict  his  ordinance:  masters  too  are  to  be  admo 
nished;  because  they  grow  proud  against  (Zod  by  reason  of  his  gift, 
if  they  do  not  acknowledge  as  their  equals,  by  the  fellowship  oj 
nature,  those  whom  by  condition  they  hold  as  subjects.      These  are 
to  be  admonished  that  they  be  mindful  that  they  are  the  slaves  of 
their  masters;  those  that  they  recollect  that  they  are  the  fellow-ser 
vants  of  servants.     To  these  it  is  said:  Servants,  obey  your  mas 
ters  in  the  flesh :  and  again,  Whosoever  are  servants  under  the 
yoke   let  them  consider  their  masters  worthy  of  all  honour :  but 
to  those  ii  is  said:  And  you,  masters,  do  in  like  manner  to  them, 
laying  aside  threats,  knowing  that  your   and  their  Master  is  : 

heaven.  , 

In  his  book  ii.  of  Epistles,  ep.  xxxix.,  writing  to  Peter,  a  sub- 
deacon  of  Campania,  he  directs  him  how  to  act  in  the  case  c 
female  slave,  belonging  to  a  proctor  or  manager  of  church  property, 
(defensor,)  who  was  anxious  to  be  allowed  to  become  a  sis 
monastery,  which  was  not  lawful  without  the  consent  of  her  owner. 
The  pope  neither  orders  the  master  to  manumit  her  nor  to  pei 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  309 

her  profession,  for,  though  he  was  employed  by  the  church,  the  re 
ligion  to  which  he  belonged  did  not  require  of  him  to  give  away 
his  property,  nor  had  the  head  of  that  church  power  to  deprive 
him  thereof;  hence  he  writes — 

Preterea  quia  Felix  defensor  puellam  nomine  Catillam  habere 
dicitur,  quae  cum  magnis  lacrymis,  et  vehementi  desiderio  habitum 
conversionis  appetit,  sed  earn  prsefatus  doniinus  suus  converti 
minime  permittit :  proinde  volumus,  ut  experientia  tua  prsefatum 
Felicem  adeat,  atque  puellae  ejusdem  animum  sollicite  requirat ;  et 
si  ita  esse  cognoverit,  pretium  ejusdem  puellge  suse  domino  prsebeat, 
et  hue  earn  in  monasterio  dandam  cum  personis  gravibus,  Domino 
auxiliante,  transmittat.  Ita  vero  hsec  age,  ut  non  per  lentam  ac- 
tionem  tuam  prsefatae  puelloe  anima  detrimentum  aliquod  in  desi 
derio  suo  sustineat. 

Moreover,  because  the  proctor  Felix  is  said  to  have  a  servant 
named  Catilla,  who  with  many  tears  and  vehement  desire  wishes  to 
obtain  the  habit  of  religion;  but  her  aforesaid  master  will  not  by 
any  means  permit  her  making  profession :  it  is  then  our  desire  that 
your  experience  would  call  upon  the  said  Felix,  and  carefully  ex 
amine  the  disposition  of  that  young  woman,  and  if  you  should  find 
it  such  as  is  stated,  pay  to  the  master  her  price,  and  send  her  hither 
with  discreet  persons,  to  be  placed,  with  God's  help,  in  a  monastery. 
But  do  this,  so  that  the  soul  of  the  young  woman  may  not  suffer 
any  inconvenience  in  her  desire,  through  your  tardiness. 

The  following  is  a  deed  of  gift  which  the  same  Pope  made,  to 
assure  the  possession  of  a  slave  to  the  bishop  of  Porto,  one  of  the 
suburban  sees  near  Rome.  It  is  curious,  not  merely  as  exhibiting 
the  fact  that  the  pope  and  the  See  of  Rome  held  and  transferred 
slaves  at  this  period,  but  also  as  giving  a  specimen  of  a  legal  docu 
ment  of  that  date  and  tenor : — 

LIB.  X.  EP.  LII. — GREGORIUS,  Felici  Episcopo  Portuensi. 

Charitatis  vestras  gratia;  provocati,  ne  infructuosi  vobis  vi- 
deamur  existere,  praecipu£  cum  et  minus  vos  habere  servitia  nove- 
rimus  ;  ideo  Joannem  juris  ecclesiastici  famulum,  natione  Sabinum, 
ex  mass£  Flaviana,  annorum  plus  minus  decem  et  octo,  quern  nostra 
voluntate  jam  diu  possidetis,  fraternitati  vestrse  jure  directo  dona- 
mus  atque  concedimus;  ita  ut  cum  habeatis,  possideatis,  atque  juri 
proprietatique  vestra  vindicetis  atque  defendatis,  et  quidquid  de  eo 
facere  volueritis,  quippe  ut  dominus,  ex  hujus  donationis  jure  libero 
potiamini  arbitrio.  Contra  quam  munificentise  nostrse  chartulam 


310  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

nunquam  nos  successoresque  nostros  noveris  esse  ventures.  Hanc 
autem  donationem  a  notario  nostro  perscriptam  legimus,  atque 
subscripsimus,  tribuentes  etiam  non  expectata  professione  vestra 
quo  volueritis  tempore  alligandi  licentiam  legitim^  stipulatione  ct 
sponsione  interposita.  Actum  Romae. 

Excited  by  our  regard  for  your  charitable  person,  that  we  may 
not  appear  to  be  useless  to  you,  especially  as  we  know  you  are  short 
of  servants :  we  therefore  give  and  grant  to  you  our  brother,  by 
our  direct  right,  John,  a  servant  of  the  church  domain,  by  birth  a 
Sabine,  of  the  Flavian  property,  now  aged  about  eighteen  years, 
whom  by  our  will  you  have  a  good  while  had  in  your  possession. 
So  that  you  may  have  and  possess  him,  and  preserve  and  maintain 
your  right  to  him  and  defend  him  as  your  property.  And  that 
you  may,  by  the  free  gift  of  this  donation,  enjoy  the  exercise  of 
your  will,  to  do  what  you  may  think  proper  in  his  regard,  as  his 
lord. 

Against  which  paper  of  our  munificence,  you  may  know  that 
neither  we  nor  our  successors  are  ever  to  come.  And  we  hdve  read 
this  deed  of  gift,  written  out  by  our  notary,  and  we  have  subscribed 
the  same,  not  even  awaiting  your  profession,  respecting  the  time  you 
would  desire  license  to  register  it  in  the  public  acts  by  interposing 
the  lawful  process  of  signature  and  covenant.  Done  at  Rome,  $*c. 

The  massa  was  generally  a  portion  of  land  of  about  twelve  acres : 
and  the  servants  belonging  specially  thereto  are  in  the  documents 
of  this  and  a  later  period  generally  called  either  servi  de  (or  ex) 
massa,  and  when  they  subsequently  became  conditioned,  or  freed 
to  a  certain  extent,  they  were  called  homines  de  masnada,  or  other 
names  equivalent  thereto. 

LIB.  V.  EP.  XXXIV. — GREGORIUS,  Athemio  Subdiacono. 

Quantus  dolor,  quantaque  sit  nostro  cordi  afflictio  de  his,  quae 
in  partibus  Campaniae  contigerunt,  dicere  non  possumus :  sed  ex 
calamitatis  magnitudine  potes  ipse  cognoscere.  Ea  de  re,  pro  re- 
medio  captivorum  qui  tenti  sunt,  solidos  experientiae  tuae  per  horum 
portitorem  Stephanum  virum  magnificum  transmisimus,  admonentes 
ut  omnino  debeas  esse  sollicitus,  ac  strenue  peragas,  et  liberos  ho 
mines,  quos  ad  redemptionem  suam  sufficere  non  posse  cognoscis,  tu 
eos  festines  redimere.  Qui  vero  servi  fuerint,  et  dominos  eorum 
ita  pauperes  esse  compereris,  ut  eos  redimere  non  assurgant,  et  hos 
quoque  comparare  non  desinas.  Pariter  etiam  et  servos  ecclesiae 
qui  tua  negligentia  perierunt,  curabis  redimere.  Quo  cumque 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  3H 


autem  redemeris,  subtiliter  notitiam,  quae  nomina  eorum,  vel  quis 
ubi  maneat,  sive  quid  agat,  seu  unde  sit,  contineat,  facere  modis 
omnibus  studebis,  quam  tecum  possis  afferre  cum  veneris.  Ita 
autem  in  hac  re  te  studiose  exhibere  festina,  ut  ii  qui  redimendi 
sunt,  nullum  te  negligente  periculum  possint  incurrere,  et  tu  apud 
nos  postea  vehementer  incipias  esse  culpabilis,  sed  et  hoc  quam 
maxime  age,  ut  si  fieri  potest,  captives  ipsos  minori  possis  pretio 
comparare.  Substantiam  vero  sub  omni  puritate  atque  subtilitate 
describe,  et  ipsam  nobis  descriptionem  cum  celeritate  transmitte. 

GREGORY,  to  the  Subdeacon  Anthemius : 

We  cannot  express  how  great  is  our  grief  and  the  affliction  of 
our  heart,  by  reason  of  what  has  occurred  in  a  part  of  Campania  ; 
but  you  may  yourself  estimate  it  from  the  extent  of  the  calamity. 
Wherefore,  we  send  to  your  experience,  by  Stephen,  a  worthy  man, 
the  bearer  hereof,  money  for  the  aid  of  those  captives  who  are  de 
tained ;  admonishing  you  that  you  ought  to  be  very  industrious 
and  exert  yourself  to  discover  what  freemen  are  unable  to  procure 
their  own  release,  and  that  you  should  quickly  redeem  them.  But 
respecting  the  slaves,  when  you  shall  discover  that  their  masters  are 
so  poor  as  not  to  have  it  in  their  power  to  release  them,  you  will 
also  not  omit  to  buy  them.  In  like  manner  you  will  be  careful  to 
redeem  the  servants  of  the  church  who  have  been  lost  through  your 
neglect. 

You  will  also  be  very  careful  by  all  means  to  make  a  neat  brief, 
which  you  can  bring  when  you  come,  containing  their  names,  as 
also  where  any  one  remains,  hoio  he  is  employed,  or  whence  he  is. 
You  will  be  diligent,  and  so  industrious  in  this  transaction,  as  to 
give  no  cause  of  danger  by  your  neglect,  for  those  who  are  to  be 
released,  nor  run  the  risk  of  being  exceedingly  culpable  in  our  view. 
You  will  be  most  particular,  above  all  things,  to  procure  the  release 
of  the  captives  at  the  lowest  possible  rate.  You  will  make  out  the 
accounts  as  accurately  and  as  clearly  as  possible,  and  send  them  to 
us  with  speed. 

The  calamity  which  he  bewails  was  an  incursion  of  the  Lom 
bards,  who,  coming  originally  from  Scandinavia,  settled  for  a  while 
in  Pomerania,  and  about  this  period  ravaged  Italy. 


312  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


LESSON  XL 

AT  this  age  of  the  world,  there  still  existed  a  feeling  of  rival- 
ship  between 'the  Jew,  the  pagan,  and  the  Christian;  and,  in  truth, 
between  some  of  the  different  sects  of  the  latter,  as  to  which  sys 
tem  of  religion  should  prevail.  This  state  of  facts  often  rendered 
the  condition  of  the  slave  peculiar. 

The  Jew  and  the  Christian  were  in  opposition  from  the  very 
origin  of  Christianity.  The  first  persecutors  of  the  Christians 
were  the  relatives  of  the  first  Christians ;  the  death  of  the  Saviour 
and  the  martyrdom  of  Stephen,  the  imprisonment  of  Peter,  the 
mission  of  Saul  to  Damascus,  and  a  variety  of  other  similar  facts, 
exhibit  in  strong  relief  the  spirit  of  hatred  which  caused  not 
merely  separation,  but  enmity.  The  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  the 
captivity  of  the  people  who  preserved  the  early  records  of  reve 
lation,  and  the  increase  of  the  Christian  religion,  even  under  the 
swords  and  the  gibbets  of  its  persecutors,  only  increased  and  per 
petuated  this  feeling. 

The  pride  of  the  Gentile  ridiculed  what  he  denominated  super 
stition  :  while  he  smote  the  believer  whom  he  mocked,  he  bowed 
before  the  idol  of  paganism.  The  early  heresies  of  those  who 
professed  the  Christian  name,  but  separated  from  Christian  unity, 
sprang  generally  from  the  efforts  to  destroy  the  mysterious  nature 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  apostles,  and  to  explain  it  by  the  system  of 
some  Gentile  philosopher,  or  to  modify  it  by  superinducing  some 
Judaic  rite  or  principle.  The  Jew,  the  Gentile,  and  the  heretic 
equally  felt  elevated  by  his  imagined  superiority  over  the  faithful 
follower  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Galilean.  Thus  the  sword  of  the 
persecutor,  the  scoff  of  ridicule,  and  the  quibbling  of  a  false  phi 
losophy,  were  all  employed  against  the  members  of  the  church ; 
and  among  those  who  were  by  their  situation  the  most  exposed 
to  suffering,  were  the  Christian  slaves  of  the  enemies  of  the  cross. 
Even  they  who  belonged  to  the  faithful  had  peculiar  trials,  because, 
frequently,  in  times  of  persecution,  masters,  desirous  of  obtaining 
protection,  without  actually  sacrificing  to  idols,  compelled  their  ser 
vants  to  personate  them  in  perpetrating  the  crime.  They  were  fre 
quently  circumcised,  even  against  the/r  will,  by  the  Jewish  owners. 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  313 

They  were  frequently  mutilated  by  the  infidel  master.  They 
were  also  exposed  to  the  continued  hardships  and  enticements  of 
owners  who  desired  to  make  them  proselytes. 

It  was,  therefore,  at  an  early  period  after  the  conversion  of  Con- 
stantine,  enacted  that  no  one  who  was  not  a  Christian  should  hold 
a  Christian  slave,  upon  that  principle  contained  in  Lev.  xxv.  47, 
48.  We  find  in  the  civil  code,  lib.  i.  tit.  10,  "  Judseus  servum 
Christianum  nee  comparare  debebit,  nee  largitatis  aut  alio  quo- 
cumque  titulo  consequetur."  A  Jew  shall  not  purchase  a  Christian 
slave,  nor  shall  he  obtain  one  by  title  of  gift,  nor  by  any  other  title. 

In  a  subsequent  part  of  the  title  the  penalty  is  recited,  "  non 
solum  mancipii  damno  mulctetur,  verum  etiam  capitali  sententia 
punietur."  Not  only  shall  he  be  mulcted  by  the  loss  of  the  slave, 
but  he  shall  be  punished  by  a  capital  sentence. 

By  a  decree  of  Valentinian  III.,  found  after  the  Theodosian 
code,  and  entitled,  "De  diversis  ecclesiasticis  capitibus,"  bearing 
date  425,  Aquileia,  vii.  of  the  ides  of  July,  Jews  and  pagans  were 
prohibited  from  holding  Christian  slaves. 

Thus  by  the  laws  of  the  empire  at  this  period,  no  Jew  or  Gentile 
could  have  any  property  in  a  Christian  slave.  This  principle  was 
not  adopted  until  a  much  later  period  by  the  Franks  and  other  na 
tions,  and  this  will  account  for  the  diversity  of  legislation  and  of  judg 
ment  which  the  books  of  the  same  period  exhibit  in  various  regions. 

Another  clause  of  the  code  was  more  comprehensive :  "  Grrecus, 
seu  paganus,  et  Judasus,  et  Samaritanus,  et  alius  haireticus,  id  est, 
non  existens  orthodoxus,  non  potest  Christianum  mancipium 
habere."  A  G-reeJc  or  pagan,  a  Jew,  a  Samaritan,  and  any  here 
tic,  that  is,  one  not  orthodox,  cannot  hold  a  Christian  slave. 

The  authority  of  Gregory  over  Sicily  was  not  merely  spiritual. 
He  had  a  temporal  supervision,  if  not  a  full  sovereignty,  over  the 
island. — The  document  is  ep.  xxxvii.  lib.  ii.  indict,  xi. 

GREGORIUS  Libertino,  Prsefecto  Sicilise. 

De  prcesumptione  Nasce  Judcei,  qui  altar e  nomine  B.  Helice  con- 
struxerat,  et  de  mancipiis  Christianis  comparatis. 

Ab  ipso  administrations  exordio,  Deus  vos  in  causa3  suse  voluit 
vindicta  procedere,  et  hanc  vobis  mercedem  propitius  cum  laude 
servavit.  Fertur  siquidem  quod  Nasas  quidam  sceleratissimus 
Judaeorum,  sub  nomine  beati  Helire  altare  punienda,  terneritate 
construxerit,  multosque  illic  Christianorum  ad  adorandum  sacrilega, 
seductione  decepit.  Sed  et  Christiana,  ut  dicitur,  mancipia  com- 


314  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


paravit,  et  suis  ea  obsequiis  ac  utilitatibus  deputavit.  Dum  igitur 
severissime  in  eum  pro  tantis  facinoribus  debuisset  ulcisci,  gloriosus 
Justinus  medicamento  avaritise,  ut  nobis  scriptum  est,  Dei  distulit 
injuriam  vindicare.  Gloria  autem  vestra  haec  omnia  districta  ex- 
aminatione  perquirat :  et  si  hujusmodi  manifestum  esse  repererit, 
ita  districtissime  ao  corporaliter  in  eundem  sceleratum  festinet 
vindicare  Judseum ;  quatenus  hac  ex  causa;  et  gratiam  sibi  Dei 
nomine  conciliet,  et  his  se  posteris  pro  sua,  mercede  imitandum 
monstret  exemplis.  Mancipia  autem  Christiana,  quaecumque  eum 
comparasse  patuerit,  ad  libertatem,  juxta  legum  prsecepta,  sine 
omni  ambiguitate  perducite,  ne,  quod  absit,  Christiana  religio 
Judais  subdita  polluatur.  Ita  ergo  omnia  districtissime  sub  omni 
festinatione  corrigite,  ut  non  solum  pro  hac  vobis  discipline,  gratias 
referamus,  sed  et  testimonium  de  bonitate  vestra  ubi  necesse  fuerit, 
praebeamus. 

GREGORY  to  Libertinus,  Prefect  of  Sicily : 

Concerning  the  presumption  of  Nasas,  a  Jew,  who  had  erected 
an  altar  in  the  name  of  the  blessed  Elias ;  and  concerning  the 
procuring  of  Christian  slaves. 

Crod  has  willed  that  from  the  very  beginning  of  your  adminis 
tration  you  should  proceed  to  the  avenging  of  his  cause ;  and  he 
has  mercifully  kept  this  reward  for  you  with  praise.  It  is  indeed 
said  that  one  Nasas,  a  very  wicked  man,  of  the  Jewish  people,  has, 
with  a  rashness  deserving  punishment,  constructed  an  altar  under 
the  name  of  the  blessed  Elias,  and  deceitfully  and  sacrilegeously 
seduced  many  Christians  thither  for  adoration.  It  is  also  said 
that  he  has  procured  Christian  slaves,  and  put  them  to  his  service 
and  profit.  It  has  also  been  written  to  us  that  the  most  glorious 
Justin,  when  he  ought  to  have  most  severely  punished  him  for  such 
crimes,  has,  through  the  soothing  of  his  avarice,  put  off  the  aveng 
ing  of  this  injury  to  G-od. 

Do  you,  glorious  sir,  most  closely  examine  into  all  the  premises  ; 
and  if  you  shall  find  the  allegations  evidently  sustained,  hasten  to 
proceed  most  strictly  to  have  bodily  justice  done  upon  this  wicked 
Jew,  so  as  to  procure  for  yourself  the  favour  of  G-od  in  this  case, 
and  to  exhibit  for  your  reward,  to  those  who  will  come  after  us, 
an  example  for  imitation.  But,  further,  do  you  carry  through, 
according  to  the  prescriptions  of  the  laws,  to  their  liberty,  without 
any  cavilling,  every  and  any  Christian  slaves  that  it  may  be  evi 
dent  he  procured,  lest,  which  G-od  forbid,  the  Christian  religion 
should  be  degraded  by  subjection  to  the  Jews. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  315 

Therefore  do  all  this  correction  most  exactly  and  quickly,  that 
you  may  not  only  have  our  thanks  for  preserving  discipline,  but 
that  we  may,  when  opportunity  offers,  give  you  proof  of  our  re 
cognition  for  your  goodness. 

Canon  xxx.  of  the  fourth  council  of  Orleans : 

Cuin  prioribus  canonibus  jam  fuerit  definitum,  ut  de  mancipiis 
Christianis,  quae  apud  Judgeos  sunt,  si  ad  ecclesiam  confugerint, 
et  redimi  se  postulaverint,  etiam  ad  quoscumque  Christianos  re- 
fugerint,  et  servire  Judseis  noluerint,  taxato  et  oblato  a  fidelibus 
justo  pretio,  ab  eorum  dominio  liberentur ;  ideo  statuimus,  ut  tarn 
justa  constitutio  ab  omnibus  Catholicis  conservetur. 

Whereas  it  has  been  decreed  by  former  canons,  respecting  the 
Christian  slaves  that  are  under  the  Jews,  that  if  they  should  fly 
to  the  church,  or  even  to  any  Christians,  and  demand  their  re 
demption,  and  be  unwilling  to  serve  the  Jews,  they  should  be  freed 
from  their  owners  upon  a  fair  price  being  assessed  by  the  faithful 
and  tendered  for  them  :  we  therefore  enact  that  this  so  just  a  regu 
lation  shall  be  observed  by  all  Catholics. 

At  this  period,  541,  in  this  province  and  kingdom,  the  Jew  had 
a  good  title  to  his  Christian  slave,  and  could  not  be  deprived  of 
him  except  by  law,  or  for  value  tendered. 

The  first  council  of  Macon  was  assembled  at  the  request  of 
King  Guntram,  or  Goutran,  one  of  the  sons  of  Clotaire  I.,  to  whom 
the  division  of  Orleans  was  left  upon  the  death  of  his  father  in 
561.  This  assembly  was  held  in  581.  The  sixteenth  canon  is — 

Et  licet  quid  de  Christianis,  qui  aut  captivitatis  incursu,  ant 
quibuscumque  fraudibus,  Judseorum  servitio  implicantur,  debeat 
observari,  non  solum  canonicis  statutis,  sed  et  legum  beneficio  pri- 
dem  fuerit  constitutum :  tamen  quia  nunc  ita  quorundam  querela 
exorta  est,  quosdam  Judaeos,  per  civitates  aut  municipia  consisten- 
tes,  in  tantam  insolentiam  et  proterviain  prorupisse  ut  nee  recla- 
mantes  Christianos  liceat  vel  precio  de  eorum  servitute  absolvi. 
Idcirco  prsesenti  concilio,  Deo  auctore,  sancimus,  ut  nullus  Chris- 
tianus  Judaeo  deinceps  debeat  servire ;  sed  datis  pro  quolibet  bono 
mancipio  xii.  solidis,  ipsum  mancipium  quicumque  Christianus  seu 
ad  ingenuitatem,  seu  ad  servitium,  licentiam  habeat  redimendi : 
quia  nefas  est,  ut  quos  Christus  Dominus  sanguinis  effusione  redemit 
persecutorum  vinculis  maneant  irretiti.  Quod  si  acquiescere  his 
quse  statuimus  quicumque  Judseus  noluerit,  quamdiu  ad  pecuniam 
constitutam  venire  distulerit,  liceat  mancipio  ipsi  cum  Christianis 


316  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

ubicumque  voluerit  habitare.  Illud  etiam  specialiter  sancientes, 
quod  si  qui  Judseus  Christianum  niancipium  ad  errorem  Judaicum 
convictus  fuerit  persuasisse,  ut  ipso  mancipio  careat,  et  legandi 
damnatione  plectetur. 

And  although  the  mode  of  acting  in  regard  to  Christians  who 
have  been  entangled  in  the  service  of  the  Jews  by  the  invasions  for 
making  captives,  or  by  other  frauds,  has  been  regulated  heretofore 
not  only  by  canonical  enactments,  but  also  by  favour  of  the  civil 
laivs  ;  yet  because  now  the  complaint  of  some  persons  has  arisen, 
that  some  Jews  dwelling  in  the  cities  and  towns  have  grown  so  in 
solent  and  bold,  that  they  will  not  permit  the  Christians  demanding 
it  to  be  freed  even  upon  the  ransom  of  their  service  ;  wherefore,  by 
the  authority  of  G-od,  we  enact  by  this  present  act  of  council,  that 
no  Christian  shall  henceforth  laivfully  continue  enslaved  to  a  Jew; 
but  that  any  Christian  shall  have  the  power  of  redeeming  that  slave 
either  to  freedom  or  to  servitude,  upon  giving  for  each  good  slave 
the  sum  of  twelve  shillings  (solidum):  because  it  is  improper  that 
they  whom  Christ  redeemed  by  the  shedding  of  his  blood,  should 
continue  bound  in  the  chains  of  persecutors.  But  if  any  Jew 
shall  be  umvilling  to  acquiesce  in  these  enacted  provisions,  it  shall 
be  laivful  for  the  slave  himself  to  dwell  where  he  will,  with  Chris 
tians,  as  long  as  the  Jew  shall  keep  from  taking  the  stipulated 
money.  This  also  is  specially  enacted,  that  if  any  Jew  shall  be 
convicted  of  having  persuaded  his  Christian  slave  to  the  adoption 
of  Jewish  error,  he  shall  be  deprived  of  the  slave  and  amerced  to 
make  a  gift. 

It  was  only  at  this  period  that  we  find  any  of  the  laws  of  the 
Franks  introducing  the  right  of  a  Christian  to  refuse  service  to  a 
Jew.  This,  however,  was  not  the  case  in  all  the  territory,  for  that 
over  which  Guntram  ruled  was  but  a  fourth  part  of  the  empire. 

The  following  is  ep.  xxi.  lib.  iii.  indie,  xii. 

GREGORIUS  Venantio,  Episcopo  Lunensi : 

Quod  Judsei  non  possunt  Christiana  habere  mancipia :  sed  coloni 
et  originarii  pensiones  illis  prsebere  debent. 

Multorum  ad  nos  relatione  pervenit,  a  Judseis  in  Lunensi  civi- 
tate  degentibus  in  servitio  Christiana  detineri  manoipia:  quse  res 
nobis  tanto  visa  est  asperior,  quanto  ea  fraternitati  tuse  patientia 
operabatur.  Oportebat  quippe  te  respectu  loci  tui,  atque  Chris- 
tianee  religionis  intuitu,  nullam  relinquere  occasioriem,  ut  super- 
Btitioni  Judaicse  simplices  animse  non,  tarn  suasionibus  quam  po- 
testatis  jure,  quodammodo  deservirent.  Quamobrem  hortamur 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  317 


fniternitatem  tuam,  ut  secundum  piissimarum  legum  tramitem,  nulli 
Judseo  liceat  Christianum  mancipium  in  suo  retinere  dominio.  Sed 
si  qui  penes  eos  inveniuntur,  libertas  eis  tuitionis  auxilio  ex  legum 
sanctione  servetur.  Hi  vero  qui  in  possessionibus  eorum  sunt,  licet 
et  ipsi  ex  legum  distinctione  sint  liberi ;  tamen  quia  colendis  eorum 
terris  diutius  adhaeserunt,  utpote  conditionem  loci  debentes,  ad 
colenda  quge  consueverant  rura  permaneant,  pensionesque  prsedictis 
viris  prgebeant :  et  cuncta  quse  de  colonis  vel  originariis  jura  prse- 
cipiunt,  peragant,  extra  quod  nihil  eis  oneris  amplius  indicatur. 
Quodsi  quisquam  de  his  vel  ad  alium  migrare  locum,  vel  in  obse- 
quio  suo  retinere  voluerit,  ipse  sibi  reputet,  qui  jus  colonarium 
temeritate  su&,  jus  vero  juris  dominii  sui  severitate  damnavit.  In 
his  ergo  omnibus  ita  te  volumus  solerter  impendi,  ut  nee  direpti 
gregis  pastor  reus  existas,  nee  apud  nos  minor  aemulatio  fraterni- 
tatem  tuam  reprehensibilem  reddat. 

GREGORY  to  Venantius,  Bishop  of  Luna  : 

That  Jews  should  not  have  Christian  slaves,  but  that  colonists 
and  those  born  on  their  lands  should  pay  them  pensions. 

We  have  learned  by  the  report  of  many  persons  that  Christian 
slaves  are  kept  in  servitude  by  the  Jews  dwelling  in  the  city  of 
Luna,  which  is  the  more  grievous  to  us  as  it  has  been  caused  by 
the  remissness  of  you  our  brother.  For  it  was  becoming  you,  as 
well  by  reason  of  the  place  you  hold,  as  from  your  regard  for  the 
Christian  religion,  not  to  allow  the  existence  of  any  occasion  bit 
which  simple  souls  may  be  subjected  to  the  Jewish  superstition,  not 
only  by  the  force  of  persuasion,  but  by  a  sort  of  right  arising  from 
power.  Wherefore  ive  exhort  you,  our  brother,  that,  according  to 
the  regulation  of  the  most  pious  laws,  it  should  not  be  permitted  to 
any  Jew  to  keep  a  Christian  slave  under  his  dominion,  and  that 
if  any  such  be  found  under  them,  the  liberty  of  such  should  be 
secured  by  the  process  of  law  and  the  aid  of  protection. 

And  as  regards  those  who  are  on  their  lands,  though  by  strict 
construction  of  law  they  may  be  free,  yet,  because  they  have  re 
mained  a  long  time  in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  as  bound  to  the 
condition  of  the  place,  let  them  remain  to  till  the  lands  as  they  have 
used  to  do,  and  pay  their  pension  to  the  aforesaid  men  ;  and  let 
them  do  all  that  the  laivs  require  of  colonists  or  persons  of  origin. 
Let  no  additional  burthen  however  be  laid  on  them. 

But  should  any  one  of  these  desire  to  migrate  to  another  place  ; 
or  should  he  prefer  remaining  in  his  obedience,  let  the  conse 
quences  be  attributed  to  him  who  rashly  violated  the  colonial  rights, 


318  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

or  who  injured  himself  ~by  the  severity  of  his  conduct  towards  his 
subject. 

It  is  our  wish  that  you  be  careful  so  to  give  your  attention  to  all 
these  letters  as  not  to  be  the  guilty  pastor  of  a  plundered  flock,  nor 
that  your  want  of  zeal  should  compel  us  to  reprehend  our  brother. 

The  law  of  the  empire  in  force  through  Italy  and  Sicily : 

1.  Slaves  who  were  Christians  could  not  be  held  by  those  who 
were  not  Christians. 

2.  It  being  unlawful  for  others  than  Christians  to  hold  them, 
these  others  could  have  no  property  in  them :  the  persons  so  held 
were  entitled  to  their  freedom. 

3.  The  church  was  the  guardian  of  their  right  to  freedom,  and 
the  church  acted  through  the  bishop. 

4.  Consequently  it  was  the  duty,  as  it  was  the  right,  of  the 
bishop  to  vindicate  that  freedom  for  those  so  unjustly  detained. 

5.  The  right  and  duty  of  the  pope  was  to  see  that  each  bishop 
was  careful  in  his  charge,  and  this  part  of  his  charge  came  as 
much  as  any  other  did  under  the  supervision  of  his  superior  and 
immediate  inspector,  and  it  was  the  duty  of  that  superior  to  repre 
hend  him  for  any  neglect. 

6.  The  law  of  each  country  was  to  regulate  the  duty  of  the 
master  and  slave,  and  if  that  law  made,  as  in  Italy  and  its  envi 
rons,  the  church  the  proper  tribunal  for  looking  to  the  performance 
of  those  duties,  any  neglect  of  the  church  in  its  discharge  would 
be  criminal. 

7.  Through  the  greater  part  of  Italy  and  Sicily,  at  this  period, 
the  pope  was  the  sovereign,  and  it  was  only  by  his  paramount  in 
fluence  that  the  half-civilized  Gothic   and  Lombard   chiefs  were 
kept  in  any  order,  and  their  despotism  partially  restrained. 

They  were  times  of  anarchy,  between  which  and  the  present  no 
analogy  exists.  The  Jews  and  separatists  from  the  church  were 
very  numerous,  and  on  their  side,  as  well  as  on  that  of  their  op- 
posers,  passion  frequently  assumed  the  garb  of  religion,  and  the 
unfortunate  slave  was  played  upon  by  each.  The  position  of  the 
pope  was  exceedingly  difficult,  for  while  he  had  to  restrain  the 
enemies  of  the  church  on  one  side,  he  had  to  correct  the  excesses 
of  its  partisans  upon  the  other. 


STUDIES  ON   SLAVERY. 


LESSON  XII. 

THE  laws  of  the  empire  having  declared  it  unlawful  for  Jews  or 
pagans  to  hold  Christian  slaves,  the  church  took  a  further  step, 
which,  in  effect,  forbade  pagan  slaves  being  sold  to  Jews,  and 
which,  to  a  considerable  extent,  suppressed  their  introduction,  by 
the  difficulties  with  which  the  following  order  surrounded  the  traffic. 
It  is  found  in  lib.  v.  indie,  xiv.  epist.  xxxi. 

GREGORIUS,  Fortunato  Episcopo  Neopolitano  : 

Ne  mancipia  quaa  Christianam  fidem  suscipere  volunt,  Judseis 
venundentur :  sed  pretium  a  Christiano  emptore  percipiant. 

Fraternitati  vestrse  ante  hoc  tempus  scripsimus,  ut  hos  qui  de  Ju- 
daica  superstitione  ad  Christianam  fidem  Deo  aspirante  venire  deside- 
rant,  dominis  eorum  nulla  esset  licentia  venundandi :   sed  ex  eo  quo 
voluntatis  suaa  desiderium  prodidissent,  defendi  in  libertatem  per 
omnia  debuissent.     Sed  quia  quantum  cognovimus,  nee  voluntatem 
nostram,  nee  legum  statuta  subtili  scientes  discretione  pensare,  in 
paganis  servis  hac  se  non  arbitraritur  conditione  constringi :  fraterni- 
tatem  vestram  oportet  de  his  esse  solicitam,  et  si  de  Judaeorum  ser- 
vitio  non  solum  Judaeos,  sed  etiam  quisquam  paganorum  fieri  vo- 
luerit  Christianus,  postquam  voluntas  ejus  fuerit  patefacta,  nee  hunc 
sub  quolibet  ingenio  vel  argumento  cuipiam  Judgeorum  venundandi 
facultas  sit :  sed  is  qui  ad  Christianam  converti  fidem  desideret,  de- 
fensione  vestra;  in  libertatem  modis  omnibus  vindicetur.  Hi  vero  quos 
hujusmodi  oportet  servos  amittere,  ne  forsitan  utilitates  suas  irra- 
tionabiliter  sestiment  impediri,  sollicita;  vos  hsec  convenit  considera- 
tione'servare  :  ut  si  paganos,  quos  mercimonii  causa,  de  externis  fini- 
bus  emerint,  intra  tres  menses,  dum  emptor  cui  vendi  debeant  non  in- 
venitur,  fugere  ad  ecclesiam  forte  contigerit,  et  velle  se  fieri  dixerint 
Christianos,  vel  etiam  extra  ecclesiam  hanc  talem  voluntatem  pro- 
dederint,  pretium  ibi  a  Christiano  scilicet  emptore  percipiant.     Si 
autem  post  praefinitos  tres  menses  quisquam  hujusmodi  servorum 
velle  suum  edixerit,  et  fieri  voluerit  Christianus,  nee  aliquis  eum 
postmodum  emere,  nee  dominus  qualibet  occasionis  specie  audeat 
venundare,  sed  ad  libertatis  proculdubio  prgemia  perducatur :  quia 
hunc  non  ad  vendendum,  sod  ad  serviendum  sibi  intelligitur  com- 
parasse.     Haec  igitur  omnia  fraternitas  vestra  ita  vigilanter  ob- 


320  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

servet,  quatenus  ei  nee  supplicatio  quorumdam  valeat,  nee  persona 
surripere. 

"  GREGORY  to  Fortunatus,  Bishop  of  Naples  : 

"  That  slaves  who  wish  to  embrace  the  Christian  faith  must  not  be 
sold  to  Jews,  but  (the  owners)  may  receive  a  price  from  a  Christian 
purchaser. 

"  We  have  before  now  written  to  you,  our  brother,  that  their 
masters  should  not  have  leave  to  sell  those  who.  by  the  inspiration 
of  God,  desire  to  come  from  the  Jewish  superstition  to  the  Christian 
faith ;  but  that  from  the  moment  they  shall  have  manifested  this 
determination  they  should  be,  by  all  means,  protected  to  seek  their 
liberty.  But,  as  we  have  been  led  to  know  some  persons,  not 
exactly  and  accurately  giving  heed  to  our  will,  nor  to  the  enact 
ments  of  the  laws,  think  that,  as  regards  pagan  slaves,  this  law- 
does  not  apply,  it  is  fit  that  you,  our  brother,  should  be  careful  on 
this  head ;  and  if  among  the  slaves  of  the  Jews,  not  only  a  Jew, 
but  any  of  the  pagans,  should  desire  to  become  a  Christian,  to  see 
that  no  Jew  should  have  power  to  sell  him  under  any  pretext,  or 
by  any  ingenious  device,  after  this  his  intention  shall  have  been 
made  known ;  but  let  him  who  desires  to  become  of  the  Christian 
faith  have  the  aid  of  your  defence,  by  all  means,  for  his  liberty 

"  And  respecting  those  who  are  to  lose  such  servants,  lest  th< 
should  consider  themselves  unreasonably  hindered,  it  is  fit  that  you 
should  carefully  follow  this  rule  :  that,  if  it  should  happen  t 
pagans,  whom  they  bought  from  foreign  places  for  the  purpose 
traffic,  should  within  three  months,  not  having  been  purchased,  fl 
to  the  church  and  say  that  they  desire  to  be  Christians,  or  ever 
make  known  this  intention  without  the  church,  let  the  owners 
capable  of  receiving  their  price  from  a  Christian  purchaser, 
if,  after  the  lapse  of  three  months,  any  one  of  those  servants 
this  description  should  speak  his  will  and  wish  to  become  a  Chris 
tian,  no  one  shall  thereafter  dare  to  purchase  him,  nor  shall 
master  under  any  pretext  sell  him ;  but  he  shall  unquestionabl 
be  brought  to  the  reward  of  liberty,  because  it  is  sufficiently  J 
telligible  that  this  slave  was  procured  for  the  purpose  of  servic 
and  not  for  that  of  traffic.     Do  you,  my  brother,  diligently  i 
closely  observe  all  these  things,  so  that  you  be  not  led  away  by  a 
supplication,  nor  affected  by  personal  regard." 

The  grounds  of  the  law  above  given  may  be  partially  gatherec 


STUDIES   ON  SLAVERY.  321 

from  the  following,  which  is  a  letter  to  the  bishop  of  Catania  in 
Sicily.     Lib.  v.  ind.  xiv.  epist.  xxxii. 

GREGORIUS,  Leoni  Episcopo  Catanensi  : 

De  Samarceis  qui  pagana  mancipia  emerunt  et  circumciderunt. 

Res  ad  nos  detestabilis,  et  omnino  legibus  inimica  pervenit, 
quse,  si  vera  est,  fraternitatem  vestram  vehementer  accusat, 
eamque  de  minori  solicitudine  probat  esse  culpabilem. 

Comperimus  autem  quod  Samarsei  degentes  Gating  pagana 
mancipia  emerint,  atque  ea  circumcidere  ausu  temerario  prsesump- 
serint.  Atque  idcirco  necesse  est,  ut  omnimodo  zelum  in  hac 
causa  sacerdotalem  exercens,  cum  omni  hoc  vivacitate  ac  solicitu 
dine  studeas  perscrutari  :  et  si  ita  repereris,  mancipia  ipsa  sine 
mor&  in  libertatem  modis  omnibus  vindica,  et  ecclesiasticam  in  eis 
tuitionem  impende,  nee  quidquam  dominos  eorum  de  pretio  quoli- 
bet  modo  recipere  patiaris  :  qui  non  solum  hoc  damno  mulctandi, 
sed  etiam  ali&  erant  poena  de  legibus  feriendi. 


"  GREGORY  to  Leo,  Bishop  of  Catania  : 

"  Concerning  Samaritans  (or  Jews)  who  purchased  pagan  slaves 
and  circumcised  them. 

"  Accounts  have  been  brought  to  us  of  a  transaction  very  de 
testable  and  altogether  opposed  to  the  laws,  and  which,  if  true, 
shows  exceedingly  great  neglect  on  the  part  of  you,  our  brother, 
and  proves  you  to  have  been  very  culpable. 

"We  have  found  that  some  Jews  dwelling  at  Catania  have 
bought  pagan  slaves,  and  with  rash  presumption  dared  to  circum 
cise  them.  Wherefore  it  is  necessary  that  you  should  exert  all 
your  priestly  zeal  in  this  case,  and  give  your  mind  to  examine 
closely  into  it  with  energy  and  care  ;  and,  should  you  find  the 
allegation  to  be  true,  that  you  should  by  all  means,  and  without 
delay,  secure  the  liberty  of  the  slaves  themselves,  and  give'  them 
the  protection  of  the  church  ;  nor  should  you  suffer  their  masters, 
on  any  account,  to  receive  any  of  the  price  given  for  them,  for 
they  not  only  should  be  fined  in  this  amount,  but  they  are  liable 
also  to  suffer  such  other  punishment  as  the  laws  inflict." 


21 


322  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


LESSON  XIII. 

IN  Judea,  the  creditor  could  take  the  children  of  the  debtor,  and 
keep  them  as  his  slaves,  to  labour  until  the  debt  was  paid ;  and 
among  the  Gentiles  this  right  was  not  only  in  existence,  but  in 
most  cases  the  child  could  be  subjected  to  perpetual  slavery,  and  in 
many  instances  the  debtor  himself  could  thus  be  reduced  to  bondage. 
Improvement  had  been  made  in  this  respect,  as  will  be  seen  by  the 
following  document,  found  in  lib.  iii.  indie,  xii.  epist.  xliii. 

GREGORIUS,  Fantino  Defensori : 

De  Cosma  Syro  multis  debitis  obligato. 

Lator  praesentium,  Cosmas  Syrus,  in  negotio  quod  agebat,  de- 
bitum  se  contraxisse  perhibuit,  quod,  et  multis  aliis  et  lacrymis 
ejus  attestantibus,  verum  esse  credidimus.  Et  quia  150  solidos 
debebat,  volui  ut  creditores  illius  cum  eo  aliquid  paciscerentur  : 
quoniam  et  lex  habet,  ut  homo  liber  pro  debito  nullatenus  teneatur, 
si  res  defuerint,  quse  possunt  eidem  debito  addici,  creditores  ergo 
suos,  ut  asserit,  ad  80  solidos  consentire  possibile  est.  Sed  quia 
multum  est  ut  a  nil  habente  homine  80  solidos  petant,  60  solidos 
per  notarium  tuum  tibi  transmisimus ;  ut  cum  eisdem  creditoribus 
subtiliter  loquaris,  rationem  reddas,  quia  filium  ejus  quern  tenere 
dicuntur,  secundum  leges  tenere  non  possunt.  Et  si  potest  fieri, 
ad  aliquod  minus  quam  nos  dedimus,  condescendant.  Et  quidquid 
de  eisdem  60  solidis  remanserit,  ipsi  trade,  ut  cum  filio  suo  exinde 
vivere  valeat.  Si  autem  nil  remanet,  ad  eamdem  summam  debitum 
ejus  incidere  stude,  ut  possit  sibi  libere  postmodum  laborare. 
Hoc  tamen  solerter  age,  ut  acceptis  solidis  ei  plenariam  munitionem 
scripto  faciant. 

"  GREGORY,  to  the  Proctor  Fantinus  : 

"  Of  Cosmas,  the  Syrian,  deeply  in  debt. 

"The  bearer  hereof,  Cosmas  the  Syrian,  has  informed  us  that 
he  contracted  many  debts  in  the  business  in  which  he  was  engageu. 
We  believe  it  to  be  true ;  he  has  testified  it  with  many  tears  and 
witnesses.  And,  as  he  owes  150  shillings,  I  wish  his  creditors 
would  make  some  composition  with  him.  And  as  the  law  regulates 
that  no  freeman  shall  be  held  for  a  debt,  if  there  be  no  goods 
which  can  be  attached  for  that  debt,  he  says  that  his  creditors 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  323 

may  be  induced  to  accept  80  shillings ;  but  it  is  extravagant  on 
their  part  to  ask  80  shillings  from  a  man  who  has  nothing.  We 
have  sent  you  60  shillings  by  your  notary,  that  you  may  have  a 
discrete  conference  with  his  creditors,  and  explain  matters  to  them, 
because  they  cannot  legally  hold  his  son,  whom  they  are  said  to 
keep.  And  if  they  will  come  down  to  any  thing  less,  by  your 
efforts,  than  the  sum  that  we  send,  should  any  thing  remain  of  the 
60  shillings,  give  it  to  him  to  help  to  support  himself  and  his  son ; 
should  nothing  be  left,  exert  yourself  to  have  his  debt  cancelled  by 
that  amount  sent,  so  that  henceforth  he  may  be  free  to  exert  himself 
for  his  own  benefit.  But  be  careful,  in  doing  this,  to  get  for  him 
a  full  receipt  and  discharge  in  writing  for  this  money  that  they  get." 

The  law  to  which  the  pope  refers,  and  by  which  the  persons  of 
the  unfortunate  debtor  and  his  family  were  protected,  is  found  in 
Novell.  134,  c.  vii.,  and  was  enacted  by  Justinian  I.  in  541. 

Ne  quis  creditor  filium  debitoris  pro  debito  retinere  prsesumat. 

Quia  verd  et  hujuscemodi  iniquitatem  in  diversis  locis  nostrse 
reipublicee  cognovimus  admitti,  quia  creditores  filios  debitorum 
proesumunt  retinere  aut  in  pignus,  aut  in  servile  ministerium,  aut 
in  conductionem :  hoc  modis  omnibus  prohibemus :  et  jubemus  ut 
si  quis  hujusmodi  aliquid  deliquerit,  non  solum  debito  cadat,  sed 
tantam  aliam  quantitatem  adjiciat  dandam  ei  qui  retentus  est  ab 
eo,  aut  parentibus  ejus,  et  post  hoc  etiam  corporalibus  poenis  ipsum 
subdi  a  loci  judice ;  quia  personam  liberam  pro  debito  praesumpserit 
retinere  aut  locare  aut  pignorare. 

"  That  no  creditor  should  presume  to  retain  for  debt  the  son  of 
the  debtor. 

"  And  because  we  have  known  that  this  sort  of  injustice  has 
been  allowed  in  several  places  of  our  commonwealth, — that  credit 
ors  presume  to  keep  the  children  of  their  debtors,  either  in  pledge 
or  in  slavish  employment,  or  to  hire  them  out.  We  by  all  means 
forbid  all  this  :  and  we  order  that,  if  any  person  shall  be  guilty 
of  any  of  these  things,  not  only  shall  he  lose  the  debt,  but  he 
shall  in  addition  give  an  equal  sum,  to  be  paid  to  the  person  that 
was  held  by  him,  or  to  the  parents  of  such  person  ;  and,  beyond 
this,  he  shall  be  subjected  to  corporal  punishment  by  the  local 
judge,  because  he  presumed  to  restrain  or  to  hire  out,  or  keep  in 
pledge,  a  free  person." 

The  following  document  will  exhibit  in  some  degree  the  origin 
of  the  principle  of  escheats  to  be  found  in  slavery.  The  slave 


324  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


being  freed  upon  certain  conditions,  if  they  were  not  fulfilled  the 
master  of  course  re-entered  upon  his  rights.  The  manumitted 
slave  was  sometimes  allowed,  not  only  freedom,  but  a  certain  gift, 
and  often  with  the  condition  that,  if  he  had  not  lawful  issue,  the 
gift,  and  its  increase  by  his  industry,  should  revert  to  the  master 
or  his  heir.  So,  in  after  times,  the  lord  of  the  soil,  or  the  monarch, 
gave  portions  of  land  to  his  vassals  upon  condition  of  service,  and, 
upon  failure  of  service  or  of  heirs,  his  land  escheated,  or  went  back 
to  the  lord  of  the  soil. 

The  document  is  found  in  lib.  v.  indie,  xiv.  epist.  xii. 

GREGORIUS,  Montana  et  Thomae : 

Libertatem  dat,  et  eos  cives  Romanes  efficit. 

Cum  Redemptor  noster  totius  conditor  creaturae  ad  hoc  pro- 
pitiatus  humanam  Voluerit  carnem  assumere,  ut  divinitatis  suse 
gratia,  dirupto  quo  tenebamur  captivi  vinculo  servitutis,  pristinae 
nos  restitueret  libertati :  salubriter  agitur,  si  homines  quos  ab 
initio  natura  liberos  protulit,  et  jus  gentium  jugo  substituit  servi 
tutis,  in  ea  natura;  in  qua  nati  fuerant,  manumittentis  beneficio, 
libertati  reddantur.  Atque  ideo  pietatis  intuitu,  et  hujus  rei  con- 
sideratione  permoti,  vos  Montanam  atque  Thomam  famulos  sanctse 
Romance  ecclesise,  cui,  Deo  adjutore,  deservimus,  liberos  ex  hac 
die,  civesque  Romanos  efficimus,  omneque  vestrum  vobis  relaxamus 
servitutis  peculium.  Et  quia  tu,  Montana,  animum  te  ad  conversio- 
nem  fateris  appulisse  monachicam :  idcirco  duas  uncias,  quas  tibi 
quondam  Gaudiosus  presbyter  per  supremse  suoe  voluntatis  arbi- 
trium  institutionis  modo  nosci^ur  reliquisse,  hac  die  tibi  donamus, 
atque  concedimus  omnia  scilicet  monasterio  Sancti  Laurentii  cui 
Constantina  abbatissa  praeest,  in  quo  converti  Deo  miserante  festi- 
nas,  modis  omnibus  profutura.  Si  quid  vero  de  rebus  suprascripti 
Gaudiosi  te  aliquomodo  celasse  constituent,  id  totum  ecclesiae 
nostrae  juri  sine  dubio  mancipetur.  Tibi  autem,  suprascripto 
Thomae,  quern  pro  libertatis  tuae  cumulo  etiam  inter  notaries 
volumus  militare,  quinque  uncias,  quas  praefatus  Gaudiosus  pres- 
byter  per  ultimam  voluntatem  hereditario  tibi  nomine  dereliquit, 
simul  et  sponsalia  quae  matri  tuae  conscripserat.  similiter  hac  die 
per  hujus  manumissionis  paginam  donamus,  atque  concedimus,  e£ 
sane  lege,  atque  conditione  subnexa,  ut  si  sine  filiis  legitimis,  hoc 
est,  de  legitimo  susceptis  conjugio,  te  obire  contigerit,  omnia  quae 
tibi  concessimus,  ad  jus  sanctae  Romanae  ecclesiae  sine  diminutione 
aliqua  revertantur.  Si  autem  filios  de  conjugio,  sicut  diximus, 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  325 


cognitos  lege  susceperis,  eosque  superstites  reliqueris,  earumdem 
te  rerum  dominum  sine  quadam  statuimus  conditione  persistere,  et 
testameritum  de  his  faciendi  liberam  tibi  tribuimus  potestatem. 
Haec  igitur,  quse  per  hujus  manumissionis  chartulam  statuimus, 
atque  concessimus,  nos  successoresque  nostros,  sine  aliqua  scitote 
refragatione  servare.  Nam  justitire  ac  rationis  ordo  suadet,  ut  qui 
sua  a  successoribus  desiderat  mandata  servari,  decessoris  sui  pro- 
culdubio  voluntatem  et  statuta  custodiat.  Hanc  autem  manumis 
sionis  paginam  Paterio  notario  scribendam  dictavimus,  et  propria 
manu  una  cum  tribus  presbyteris  prioribus  et  tribus  diaconis  pro 
plenissima  firmitate  subscripsimus,  vobisque  tradidimus.  Actum  in 
urbe  Roma. 

"GREGORY  to  Montana  and  Thomas: 

"He  emancipates  them,  and  makes  them  Roman  citizens. 

"  Since  our  Redeemer,  the  Maker  of  every  creature,  mercifully 
vouchsafed  to  take  human  flesh,  that,  breaking  the  chain  by  which 
we  were  held  captive,  he  may,  by  the  grace  of  his  divinity,  restore 
us  to  our  first  liberty,  it  is  then  salutary  that  they  whom  he  at  first 
made  free  by  nature,  and  whom  the  law  of  nations  subjected  to  the 
yoke  of  slavery,  should  in  the  nature  in  which  they  were  born  be 
restored  to  liberty  by  that  kindness  of  their  emancipator.  And 
therefore,  moved  by  this  consideration,  and  in  respect  to  piety, 
we  make  you,  Montana  and  Thomas,  slaves  of  the  holy  Roman 
church,  in  whose  service  we  are  by  God's  help  engaged,  from  this 
day  forward  free  and  Roman  citizens.  And  we  release  to  you  all 
your  allowance  of  slavery. 

"And  because  you,  Montana,  have  declared  that  it  was  your 
wish  to  enter  into  the  monastic  state,  we  give  and  grant  to  you 
this  day  two  ounces,  which  it  is  well  known  were  formerly  left  as 
a  legacy  to  you  for  inheritance  by  the  priest  Gaudiosus,  to  be  by 
all  means  available  to  the  monastery  of  St.  Lawrence,  over  which 
Constantina  is  superioress,  and  into  which  you  desire  anxiously  by 
God's  mercy  to  be  admitted.  But  should  it  appear  that  you  have 
concealed  any  of  the  effects  of  the  said  Gaudiosus,  the  entire 
thereof  doubtless  is  by  right  for  the  service  of  our  church. 

"But  to  you,  the  said  Thomas,  whom,  in  addition  to  the  bestowal 
of  freedom,  we  desire  to  be  enrolled  in  service  among  our  notaries, 
we  likewise  this  day  give  and  grant,  by  this  charter  of  manumis 
sion,  five  ounces  which  the  same  Gaudiosus  the  priest  left  to  you 
]  y  name  in  his  last  will,  and  the  portion  which  he  assigned  for 


126  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


your  mother,  but  upon  this  ground  and  condition  well  attached, 
that,  should  you  die  without  issue  by  lawful  marriage,  all  those 
goods  which  we  have  granted  to  you  shall  come  back,  without  any 
diminution,  .under  the  dominion  of  the  holy  Roman  church  ;  but 
should  you  leave  behind  you  children  lawfully  recognised  from 
your  marriage,  we  give  to  you  full  power  to  hold  the  same  effects 
as  their  owner,  and  without  any  condition,  and  to  make  free  dis 
position  of  the  same  by  will. 

"Know  you,  therefore,  that  what  we  have  thus,  by  this  charter 
of  manumission,  enacted  and  granted  to  you,  bind,  without  any 
gainsay,  ourselves  and  our  successors  for  its  observance.  For  the 
order  of  justice  and  of  reason  requires  that  he  who  desires  his  own 
commands  to  be  observed  by  his  successors,  should  also  doubtless 
observe  the  will  and  the  statutes  of  his  predecessor. 

"  We  have  dictated  this  writing  of  manumission  to  be  copied  by 
our  notary  Paterius,  and  have  for  its  most  perfect  stability  sub 
scribed  it  with  our  hand,  and  with  those  of  three  of  the  more  dig 
nified  priests  and  three  deacons,  and  delivered  them  to  you. 

"Done  in  the  city  of  Rome,  &c." 

One  of  the  subjects  which  at  all  times  caused  slavery  to  be 
surrounded  with  great  difficulties  was  the  result  of  marriage.  The 
liability  to  separation  of  those  married  was  a  more  galling  affliction 
in  the  Christian  law,  where  the  Saviour  made  marriage  indissoluble, 
and  it  often  happened  that  an  avaricious  or  capricious  owner  cared 
as  little  for  the  marriage  bond  as  he  did  for  the  natural  tie  of 
affection.  Hence,  as  Christianity  became  the  religion  of  the  state, 
or  of  the  great  body  of  the  people,  it  was  imperatively  demanded 
that  some  restraint  should  be  placed  upon  that  absolute  power 
which  the  owners  sometimes  abused,  of  wantonly  making  these 
separations.  On  the  other  hand,  the  association  of  the  sexes  made 
marriage  desirable :  it  was  ordained  by  God  to  be  the  general 
state  of  the  bulk  of  mankind,  and  even  the  self-interest  or  the 
avarice  of  the  master  calculated  upon  its  results.  Then  again  the 
slave  dreaded  separation,  not  only  because  of  the  violence  committed 
on  the  most  sacred  affections,  but  also  because,  though  the  husband 
and  wife  should  be  separated  by  impassable  barriers,  yet  the  bond 
of  their  union  subsisted,  and  could  be  severed  by  death  alone. 

This  was  a  strong  temptation  to  both  master  and  slave  to  prefer*" 
concubinage  to  wedlock. 

Another  difficulty  arose,  in  cases  of  the  colonist,  by  reason  of 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  337 

the  claims  of  the  several  owners  where  colonists  of  distinct  estates 
and  different  owners  intermarried.  In  the  case  of  perfect  slaves, 
the  child  generally  followed  the  mother,  both  as  regarded  condition 
and  property.  This  was  not,  however,  universally  the  case.  But 
the  owners  of  colonized  lands  set  up  different  claims.  At  length 
the  dispute  was  settled  in  the  Koman  Empire  by  a  law  of  Justinian, 
in  539,  Novell,  clxii.  cap.  iii.,  and  confirmed  by  a  decision  in  a  case 
brought  up  by  the  church-wardens  of  Apamea,  in  Phrygia,  in  541, 
on  the  kalends  of  March,  by  dividing  equally  the  progeny  between 
the  estates  to  which  the  parents  belonged,  giving  the  preference, 
in  all  cases  of  uneven  number,  to  that  estate  to  which  the  mother 
was  attached.  Nov.  clvii.  tit.  xxxix. 

The  following  law  concerning  marriages  and  the  separation  of 
married  persons  from  each  other,  and  of  children  from  their  pa 
rents,  is  of  the  same  date. 

NOVELL.  CLVII.  De  Rusticis  qui  in  alienis  prcediis  nuptias  con- 
trahunt.  Tit.  xl. 

Imp.  Justin.  August.  Lazaro  Comiti  Orientis. 
Prsefatio.  Ex  his  quse  diverso  modo  ad  nos  relata  sunt,  didi- 
cimus  in  Mesopotamia  et  Osdroena  provinciis  quidquam  delinqui, 
nostris  plane  temporibus  indignum  :  consuetudinem  etiam  apud 
ipsos  esse,  ut  qui  ex  diversis  originem  trahant  prgediis,  nuptias  inter 
se  contrahant.  Inde  sane  conari  dominos,  de  facto  jam  contractas 
nuptias  dissolvere,  aut  procreates  filios  a  parentibus  abstrahere, 
exindeque  totum  ilium  locum  misere  affligi,  dum  et  rusticani  viri 
et  mulieres  ex  una  parte  distrahantur,  et  proles  his  adimitur,  qui 
in  lucem  produxerunt,  et  sola  nostra;  opus  esse  providentia. 

Cap.  I.  Sancimus  igitur,  ut  prsediorum  domini  de  csetero  rus- 
ticos  suos,  prout  voluerint,  conservent :  neque  quisquam  eos  qui 
jam  conjuncti  sunt  possit  secundum  consuetudinem  prius  obtinen- 
tem  divellere,  aut  compellere  ut  terram  ad  ipsos  pertinentem 
colant,  abstrahereve  a  parentibus  filios  prsetextu  conditionis  colo- 
narige.  Sed  et  si  quid  hujusmodi  forte  jam  factum  est,  corrigi 
hoc  simul,  et  restitui  efficies,  sive  filios  abstrahi  contigerit,  sive 
etiam  mulieres,  nempe  vel  a  parentibus,  vel  contubernii  consortibus: 
co,  qui  reliquo  deinceps  tempore  hujusmodi  aliquid  facere  prse- 
sumpserit,  etiam  de  ipso  prsedio  in  periculum  vocando.  Quare  libera 
sunto  contubernia  metu,  qui  dudum  ipsis  immittitur,  et  parentes  ha- 
bento  ex  hac  jussione  filios  suos:  nequeuntibus  praediorum  dominis 
subtilibus  contendere  rationibus,  et  vel  nuptias  contrahentes  vel 


328  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

filios  abstrahere.  Qui  enim  tale  quid  facere  prsesumpserit,  etiam  de 
ipso  praedio  in  periculum  veniet,  cui  eos  vindicare  rusticos  attentat. 
Epilogus.  Qu3e  igitur  nobis  placuerunt,  et  per  sacram  hanc 
pragmaticam  declarantur  fornam,  earn  providentiam  habeto  magni- 
ficentia  tua,  tibique  obtemperans  cohors,  et  qui  pro  tempore 
eundem  magistratum  geret;  ut  ad  efFectum  deducantur  conserven- 
turque,  trium  librarum  auri  poena  imminenti  ei,  qui  ullo  unquam 
tempore  haec  transgredi  attentaverit.  Dat.  Kal.  Maii,  Constan- 
tinop.  D.  N.  Justin.  PP.  Aug.  Bisil.  V.  0.  Cons. 

"  Of  country  persons  who  contract  marriage  on  divers  estates. 
The  Emperor  JUSTINIAN  AUGUSTUS,  to  Lazarus  the  Count  of  the  East. 

"  Preamble.  We  have  learned  by  relation  in  various  ways, 
that  a  delinquency  quite  unworthy  of  our  times  is  allowed  in  the 
provinces  of  Mesopotamia  and  of  Osdroene.  They  have  a  custom 
of  having  marriage  contracted  between  those  born  on  different 
estates  :  whence  the  masters  endeavour  to  dissolve  marriages  actu 
ally  contracted,  or  to  take  away  from  the  parents  the  children  who 
are  their  issue ;  upon  which  account  that  entire  place  is  miserably 
afflicted,  while  country  people,  husbands  and  wives,  are  drawn 
away  from  each  other,  and  the  children  whom  they  brought  into 
light  are  taken  away  from  them ;  and  that  there  needs  for  the  re 
gulation  only  our  provision. 

"  Chapter  I.  Wherefore,  we  enact,  that  otherwise  the  masters 
of  the  aforesaid  keep  their  colonists  as  they  will ;  but,  it  shall  not 
be  allowed,  by  virtue  of  any  custom  heretofore  introduced  and  in 
existence,  to  put  away  from  each  other  those  who  were  married,  or 
to  force  them  to  cultivate  the  land  belonging  to  themselves,  or  to 
take  away  children  from  their  parents,  under  the  colour  of  colonial 
condition.  And  you  will  be  careful  that  if  any  thing  of  this  sort 
has  haply  been  already  done,  the  same  be  corrected  and  restitution 
made,  whether  it  be  that  children  were  taken  away  from  their 
parents  or  women  from  their  consorts  of  marriage.  And  for  any 
who  shall  in  future  presume  to  act  in  this  way,  it  shall  be  at  the 
hazard  of  losing  the  estate  itself. 

"Wherefore,  let  marriages  of  servants  be  exempt  from  that  fear 
which  has  hitherto  hung  over  them :  and  from  the  issue  of  this 
order,  let  the  parents  have  their  children.  It  shall  not  be  compe 
tent  for  the  lords  of  the  estates  to  strive  by  any  subtle  arguments 
either  to  take  away  those  who  contract  marriage,  or  their  children. 
ITor  he  who  shall  presume  to  do  any  such  thing  shall  incur  the 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  329 

risk  of  losing  that  estate  for  which  he  attempts  to  claim  those 
colonists. 

"  Epilogue.  That  therefore  which  has  been  good  in  our  view, 
and  is  declared  by  this  sacred  pragmatic  form,  let  your  magnifi 
cence  provide  to  have  carried  into  execution,  and  the  cohort  which 
obeys  you,  as  also  he  who  for  the  time  being  shall  hold  the  same 
magisterial  office.  To  the  end,  then,  that  this  edict  may  produce 
its  effect  and  continue  in  force,  let  him  who  may  at  any  time  vio 
late  its  enactments  be  liable  to  a  penalty  of  three  pounds  of  gold. 

"  Given  at  Constantinople,  on  the  kalends  of  May,  our  most  pious 
lord  Justinian  being  Augustus,  and  the  most  renowned  Basil 
being  consul." 

To  rectify  this,  it  became  a  principle,  where  an  estate  was  large 
and  the  colonists  numerous,  to  confine  the  choice  of  the  servants 
within  the  bounds  of  the  property ;  and  thus  marriage  had  its  full 
sanctity,  and  families  remained  without  separation. 

We  have  an  instance  of  the  exercise  of  this  right,  by  Pope  St. 
Gregory,  in  a  document  found  in  lib.  x.  indie,  v.  epist.  28. 

GREGORIUS,  Romano  Defensori. 

De  filiis  Petri  defensoris  extra  massam  in  qua  nati  sunt  non 
jgingendis. 

Petrus  quern  defensorem  fecimus,  quia  de  massa  juris  ecclesiae 
nostrse,  quse  Vitelas  dicitur,  oriundus  sit,  experientise  tuse  bene  est 
cognitum.  Et  ideo  quia  circa  eum  benigni  debemus  existere,  ut 
tamen  ecclesiae  utilitas  non  laedatur:  hac  tibi  proeceptione  man 
damus,  ut  eum  districte  debeas  admonere,  ne  filios  suos  quolibet 
ingenio  vel  excusatione  foris  alicubi  in  conjugio  sociare  prsesumat, 
sed  in  ea  massa,  cui  lege  et  conditione  ligati  sunt,  socientur.  In 
qua  re  etiam  et  tuam  omnino  necesse  est  experientiam  esse  solli- 
citam,  atque  eos  terrere,  ut  qualibet  occasione  de  possessione  cui 
oriundo  subject!  sunt  exire  non  debeant.  Nam  si  quis  eorum 
exinde,  quod  non  credimus,  exire  prsesumpserit ;  certum  illi  est 
quia  noster  consensus  nunquam  illi  aderit,  ut  foris  de  massa  in  qua 
nati  sunt,  aut  habitare  aut  debeant  sociari,  sed  et  superscribi  terram 
eorum.  Atque  tune  sciatis  vos  non  leve  periculum  sustinere,  si 
vobis  negligentibus  quisquam  ipsorum  quidquam  de  iis  quce  pro- 
hibemus  facere  qualibet  sorte  tentaverit. 

"  GREGORY  to  the  Proctor  Romanus. 

"  Gf  not  marrying  the  children  of  Peter  the  Proctor,  without  the 
limits  of  the  estate  upon  which  they  were  born. 


330  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

"  You,  experienced  sir,  are  well  aware  that  Peter,  whom  we 
made  a  proctor,  is  a  native  of  the  estate  of  our  church  territory 
which  is  called  Vitelas.  And  as  our  desire  is  to  act  towards  him 
with  such  favour  as  is  compatible  with  avoiding  any  injury  to  the 
church,  we  command  you  by  this  precept,  that  you  should  strictly 
warn  him  not  to  presume,  under  any  pretext  or  excuse,  to  have  his 
children  joined  in  wedlock  anywhere  but  on  that  estate  to  which 
they  may  be  bound  by  law  or  by  condition.  In  which  matter  it 
is  quite  necessary  that  you,  experienced  sir,  be  very  careful,  and 
instil  into  them  a  fear  to  prevent  any  of  them  from  going  on  any 
account  beyond  the  estate  to  which  they  are  subject  by  origin 
For  if  any  one  of  them  shall  presume,  as  we  believe  he  will  not, 
to  go  thence,  let  him  be  assured  that  he  shall  never  have  our  con 
sent  either  to  dwell  or  to  associate  himself  without  the  estate  on 
which  he  was  born,  but  that  the  land  of  any  such  person  shall  be 
more  heavily  charged  (superscribi).  And  know  you,  that  if,  by 
your  negligence,  any  of  thejn  shall  attempt  to  do  any  of  those 
things  which  we  prohibit,  you  will  incur  no  small  danger." 

Many  of  the  restrictions  on  marriage  that  are  found  in  subse 
quent  ages,  under  the  feudal  system,  had  their  origin  in  this  prin 
ciple,  because  indeed  the  vassal,  in  feudal  times,  was  but  a  slaye 
under  a  more  loose  dominion  in  a  mitigated  form. 

The  following  document  shows  that,  in  the  west,  the  separation  of 
married  persons  was  very  uncommon,  (quani  sit  inauditum  atque  cru- 
dele,  unheard  of  and  cruel.)  It  is  found  in  lib.  iii.  indie,  iii.  ep.  xii. 

GREGORIUS,  Maximiano  Episcopo  Syracusano. 

De  uxore  cujmdam  ablata  et  alteri  venumdatd. 

Tanta  nobis  subinde  mala,  quse  aguntur  in  istai  provincia,  nun- 
ciantur,  ut  peccatis  facientibus,  quod  avertat  omnipotens  Deus, 
celeriter  earn  perituram  credamus.  Praesentium  namque  portitor 
veniens  lacrymabiliter  qusestus  est,  ante  plurimos  annos  ab  homine 
nescio  quo  de  possessione  Messanensis  ecclesise  de  fontibus  se  sus- 
ceptum,  et  violenter  diversis  suasionibus  puellse  ipsius  junctum,  ex 
qu&  juvenculos  filios  jam  habere  se  asseruit,  et  quam  nunc  violenter 
huic  disjunctam  abstulisse  dicitur,  atque  cuidam  alii  venumdedisse. 
Quod  si  verum  est,  quam  sit  inauditum  atque  crudele  malum,  tua 
bene  dilectio  perspicit.  Ideoque  admonemus,  ut  hoc  tantum  nefas 
sub  ea  vivacite,  quam  te  in  causis  piis  habere  certissime  scimus, 
requiras  atque  discutias.  Et  si  ita,  ut  supradictus  portitor  insinu- 
avit,  esse  cognoveris,  non  solum  quod  male  factum  est,  acl  statum 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  331 

pristinum  revocare  curabis;  sed  et  vindictam,  quge  Deum  possit 
placare,  exhibere  modis  omnibus  festinabis.  Episcopum  vero,  qui 
homines  suos  talia  agentes  corrigere  negligit  atqae  emendare,  ye- 
hementer  aggredere,  proponens,  quia  si  denuo  talis  ad  nos  de  quo- 
quam  qui  ad  eum  pertinet  quaerela  pervenerit,  non  in  eum  qui 
excesserit,  sed  in  ipsum  canonice  vindicta  procedet. 

"  GREGORY  to  Maximian,  Bishop  of  Syracuse. 

"  Concerning  the  wife  of  some  one  that  ^vas  taken  away  and  sold 
to  another. 

"  We  are  told  of  so  many  bad  things  done  in  that  province,  that 
we  are  led  to  believe,  which  may  God  forbid,  the  place  must  soon 
be  destroyed. 

"  Now,  the  bearer  of  these  presents  complained  to  us  in  a  pitiable 
manner,  that  many  years  ago,  some  man  whom  I  know  not,  belong 
ing  to  the  church  of  Messina  stood  as  his  sponsor  at  baptism,  and 
prevailed  upon  him  by  extreme  urgency  to  marry  his  servant,  by 
whom,  he  says,  he  has  now  young  children,  and  whom  now  this 
man  has  violently  taken  away  and  sold  to  another.  If  this  be 
true,  you,  our  beloved,  will  see  plainly  how  unheard  of  and  how 
cruel  is  the  evil.  We  therefore  admonish  you  to  look  into  and  to 
sift  so  great  a  crime,  with  that  earnestness  which  we  assuredly 
know  you  have  in  matters  of  piety :  and  should  you  come  to  know 
that  the  fact  is  as  the  aforesaid  bearer  has  stated,  you  will  be 
careful  not  only  to  bring  back  to  its  former  state  that  which  was 
badly  done,  but  you  will  quickly,  by  all  means,  have  that  punish 
ment  inflicted  which  may  appease  God.  Give  a  severe  lecture  to 
the  bishop  that  neglected  to  correct  or  to  amend  his  people  who  do 
such  things;  setting  before  him  that  if  a  like  complaint  comes  to 
us  again  of  any  one  who  belongs  to  him,  canonical  process  for 
punishment  shall  issue,  not  against  the  one  that  shall  have  done 
wrong,  but  against  himself." 


LESSON  XIY. 

THE  form  of  a  deed  of  gift  found  in  lib.  ii.  indie,  xi.  epist.  18  : 

GREGORIUS,  Theodoro  Consiliario. 

Acosimum  puerum  dat  per  epistolam. 

Ecclesiasticis  utilitatibus  desudantes  ecclesiastic^  dignum  est 
remuneratione  gaudere,  ut  qui  se  voluntariis  obsequiorum  necessi- 
tatibus  sponte  subjiciunt,  dign£  nostris  provisionibus  consolentur. 


332  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

Quia  igitur  te  Theodorum,  virum  eloquentissimum,  consiliarium  nos 
trurn,  mancipiorum  cognovimus  ministerio  destitutum,  ideo  puerum 
nomine  Acosimtfm,  natione  Siculum,  juri  dominioque  tuo  dari  tra- 
dique  praecipirnus.  Quern  quoniam  traditum  ex  nostra  voluntate 
jam  possides,  hujus  te  necesse  fuit  script!  pro  futuri  temporis  tes- 
timonio  ac  robore  largitatis  auctoritate  fulciri :  quatenus,  Domino 
protegente,  secure  eum  semper  et  sine  ullius  retractionis  suspicione, 
quippe  ut  dominus,  valeas  possidere.  Neque  enim  quemquam  fore 
credimus,  qui  tarn  parvain  largitatem  pro  tua  tibi  devotione  conces- 
sam  desideret,  vel  tentet  ullo  modo  revocare :  cum  uno  eodemque 
tempore,  et  verecundum  sit  a  decessoribus  bene  gesta  resolvere,  et 
verecundum  sit  docere  ceteros  in  sua  quandoque  resolutoriam  pro- 
ferre  largitate  sententiam. 

"  GREGORY,  to  Theodore  the  Counsellor. 

"  He,  by  letter,  gives  him  the  boy  Acosimus. 

"  It  is  fit  that  they  who  labour  for  the  benefit  of  the  church 
should  enjoy  a  reward  from  the  church,  that  they  who  voluntarily 
and  of  their  own  accord  have  undertaken  burthensome  duties  should 
be  worthily  assisted  by  our  provision.  Because,  therefore,  we  have 
known  that  you,  Theodore,  our  counsellor,  a  most  eloquent  man, 
were  not  well  provided  with  the  service  of  slaves,  we  have  ordered 
that  a  boy,  by  name  Acosimus,  of  the  Sicilian  nation,  should  be 
given  up  and  delivered  to  your  right  and  dominion.  And  as  you 
already  have  him  in  your  possession  by  delivery,  upon  our  will,  it 
was  necessary  to  fortify  you  with  the  authority  of  this  writing  as 
a  testimony  to  the  future  and  for  protection  of  the  gift :  so  that 
by  God's  protection  you  may  have  power  to  possess  him  as  his 
lord  and  master,  always  securely  for  ever  and  without  any  ques 
tion  being  raised  of  his  being  in  any  way  taken  back.  Nor  indeed 
do  we  believe  that  there  is  any  one  who  would  desire  or  would  at 
tempt  in  any  way  to  revoke  so  small  a  bounty  given  to  you  for 
your  devotion,  since  it  would  be  shameful  to  undo  the  good  deeds 
of  our  predecessors,  as  it  would  to  teach  others  that  each  could 
from  time  to  time  make  the  revocation  of  his  own  gift." 

The  next  document  is  found  in  lib.  x.  indie,  v.  epist.  40  : 

GREGORIUS,  Bonito  Defensori. 
De  mancipio  Fortunati  Abbatis. 

Filius  noster  Fortunatus  abbas  monasterii  sancti  Severini,  quod 
in  hac  urbe  Romana  situm  est,  latores  prsesentium,  monachos  suos, 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  333 

illic  pro  recolligendis  mancipiis  juris  sui  monasterii  quae  illic  lati- 
tare  dicuntur  dirigens,  petiit  ut  experientiae  tuae  ei  debeant  adesse 
solatia.  Ea  propter  praesenti  tibi  auctoritate  praecipimus,  ut  eis  in 
omnibus  salva  ratione  concurrere  ac  opitulari  festines :  quatenus 
te  illic  coram  posito,  atque  in  hac  causa  ferente  solatia,  salubriter 
hsec  citius  valeant  quae  sibi  injuncta  sunt  ad  effectum,  Deo  auc- 
tore,  perducere. 

"  GREGORY,  to  the  Proctor  Bonitus. 

"  Concerning  the  slave  of  the  Allot  Fortunatus. 

"  Our  son  Fortunatus,  the  abbot  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Seve- 
rinus  which  is  in  the  city  of  Rome,  directing  his  monks,  the  bearers 
of  these  presents  to  your  neighbourhood,  to  gather  slaves  belong 
ing  to  the  rights  of  his  monastery,  who  are  said  to  be  there  in  con 
cealment,  begged  that  he  should  have  your  aid  for  that  object. 
Wherefore,  we  command  you,  by  this  present  order,  that  you  would 
be  alert  in  giving. them  all  reasonable  concurrence  and  aid;  so  that 
you  being  present  there  and  comforting  them  in  this  business,  they 
may,  with  God's  aid,  be  able  in  a  wholesome  manner  the  sooner  to 
perform  the  duty  which  has  been  laid  upon  them." 

The  pope  did  not  consider  it  unbecoming  in  the  monastery  of 
St.  Severinus  to  hold  slaves,  nor  irreligious  for  the  abbot  to  send 
monks  to  bring  back  runaways,  nor  criminal  for  the  monks  to  go 
looking  for  them,  nor  offensive  to  God,  on  his  own  part,  to  give 
letters  to  his  officer  and  overseers  to  aid  by  all  reasonable  means 
to  discover  and  to  capture  them. 

The  following  document  enters  into  details  for  the  recovery  of 
a  runaway  slave.  It  is  found  in  lib.  vii.  ind.  ii.  epist.  107. 

GREGORIUS  Sergio  Defensori. 

De  Petro  puero  fugd  lapso. 

Filius  noster  vir  magnificus  Occilianus,  tribunus  Hydruntinae  oi- 
vitatis,  ad  nos  veniens,  puerum  unum,  Petrum  nomine,  artis  pisto- 
riae,  ex  jure  germani  nostri,  ad  eum  noscitur  perduxisse.  Quern 
nunc  fug&  lapsum  ad  partes  illas  reverti  cognovimus.  Experientia 
ergo  tua,  antequam  ad  Hydruntinam  civitatem  valeat  is  ipse  con- 
tingere,  sub  qu&  valueris  celeritate,  vel  ad  episcopum  Hydruntinae 
civitatis,  vel  ad  praedictum  tribunum,  si  vel  alium  quern  in  loco  tuo 
te  habere  cognoscis,  scripta  dirigas,  ut  uxorem  vel  filios  praedicti. 
mancipii  sub  omni  habere  debeant  cautela  atque  de  ipso  sollicitu- 
dinem  gerere,  ut  preveniens  valeat  detineri,  et  mox,  cum  rebus  suis 
omnibus  auae  ad  eum  uertinent  navi  impositis,  per  fidelem  personam 


•  334  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

hue  modis  omnibus  destinari.  Experientia  itaque  tua  cum  omni 
hoc  studeat  efficacia  solertiaque  perficere,  ne  de  neglectu  vel  mora 
nostros  quod  non  optamus  animos  offendas. 

"  GREGORY,  to  the  Proctor  Sergius. 

"  Concerning  Peter ,  a  servant  who  fled  away. 

"  Our  son  Occilianus,  a  highly  respectable  man,  a  tribune  of  the 
city  of  Otranto,  brought  with  him  to  our  cousin,  as  is  known,  when 
he  was  coming  to  us,  a  boy  named  Peter,  a  baker,  who  belonged  to 
that  cousin.  We  have  now  learned  that  he  has  run  away,  and  re 
turned  to  your  country.  Let  then  it  be  your  care,  experienced 
sir,  before  he  shall  be  able  to  get  back  to  Otranto,  to  direct,  as 
quickly  as  you  can,  a  writing  to  the  bishop  of  Otranto,  or  to  the 
foresaid  tribune  himself,  or  to  any  one  else  whom  you  know,  that 
you  can  depute,  to  have  a  good  care  of  the  wife  or  children  of  the 
said  slave,  and  to  be  very  careful  respecting  himself,  that  as  soon 
as  he  shall  arrive  he  may  be  detained,  and  sent  with  every  thing 
that  pertains  to  him,  by  all  means  hither,  embarking  them  on  board 
a  ship  under  care  of  some  faithful  person. 

"  You,  experienced  sir,  will  therefore  exert  yourself  to  do  this 
with  all  attention  and  effect,  so  as  not  to  displease  us  by  a  delay 
or  neglect,  which  we  should  not  desire." 

The  following  is  taken  from  lib.  viii.  indie,  iii.  epist.  4. 

GREGORIUS,  Fantino  Defensori. 

De  mancipiis  Romani  spectabilis  viri. 

Mancipia  juris  Romani  spectabilis  memoriae  viri,  qui  in  domo  sua 
quse  Neapoli  sita  est  monasterium  ordinari  constituit,  habitare  in 
Sicilia  perhibentur.  Et  quia  monasterium  ipsum  juxta  voluntatem 
ejus,  Deo  auctore,  noscitur  ordinatum,  experientia  tua  prsesentium 
portitoribus,  qui  ad  recolligenda  mancipia  ipsa  illuc  directi  sunt, 
omni  studio  solatiari  festinet,  et  recollectis  eis,  possessiones  illi 
ubi  laborare  debeant,  te  solatiante,  conducant.  Et  quidquid  eorurn 
labore  accesserit,  reservato  unde  ipsi  possint  subsistere,  reliqua 
ad  prsedictum  monasterium,  experientise  tuse  cura,  annis  singulis, 
auxiliante  Domino,  transmittantur. 

"  QREGORY,  to  the  Proctor  Fantinus. 

"  Concerning  the  slaves  of  the  honourable  man  Romanus. 

"  The  slaves  of  the  man  of  honourable  memory,  Romanus,  who 
directed  that  his  house  in  Naples  should  be  formed  into  a  monastery, 
are  said  to  dwell  in  Sicily.  And  as  it  is  known  that,  with  God's 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  335 


help,  the  monastery  has  been  established  according  to  the  regula 
tions  of  his  will ;  you,  experienced  sir,  will  without  delay  use  your 
best  efforts  to  aid  the  bearers  of  these  presents,  who  are  sent 
thither,  to  collect  those  slaves :  and  when  they  shall  be  collected, 
let  them  hire  lands  under  your  countenance,  where  they  may  la 
bour  ;  keeping  them  out  of  their  produce  of  labour,  whatever  may 
be  necessary  for  their  support ;  let  the  remainder,  under  the  care 
of  you,  experienced  sir,  be  sent,  with  God's  help,  every  year  to  the 
foresaid  monastery." 

GREGORIUS,  Vitali  Defensori  Sardinia. 

De  Barbaricinis  mancipiis  comparandiz. 

Bonifacium  prsesentium  portitorem,  notarium  scilicet  nostrum, 
nos  experientia  tua  illuc  transmisisse  cognoscat,  ut  in  utilitatem 
parochiae  Barbaricina  debeat  mancipia  comparare.  Et  ideo  expe 
rientia  tua  omnino  et  studio  sesolliciteque  concurrat,  ut  bono  pretio, 
et  talia  debeat  comparare,  quae  inministerio  parochise  utilia  valeant 
inveniri,  atque  emptis  eis  hue  Deo  protegente  is  ipse  celerius  possit 
remeare.  Ita  ergo  te  in  hac  re  exhibere  festina,  ut  te  quasi  servi- 
entium  amatorem,  quorum  usibus  emuntur,  ostendas,  et  nobis  ipsi 
te  de  tua  valeant  sollicitudine  commendare. 

"GREGORY,  to  Vitalis,  Proctor  of  Sardinia. 

"  Of  buying  Barbary  slaves. 

"Know,  experienced  sir,  that  Boniface,  our  notary,  the  bearer 
of  these  presents,  has  been  sent  by  us  to  your  place  to  purchase 
some  Barbary  slaves  for  the  use  of  the  hospital.  And  therefore, 
you  will  be  careful  to  concur  diligently  and  attentively  with  him, 
that  he  may  buy  them  at  a  good  rate,  and  such  as  would  be  found 
useful  for  the  service  of  the  hospital.  And  that  having  bought 
them,  he  may,  under  the  protection  of  God,  very  speedily  return 
hither.  Do  you  then  be  prompt  to  show  yourself  in  this  business 
so  as  to  exhibit  your  affection  for  those  who  serve  the  hospital,  and 
for  whose  use  the  purchase  is  made,  and  that  they  may  have  it  in 
their  power  to  commend  you  to  us  for  your  zeal  in  their  regard." 

The  word  parochide,  which  is  translated  "hospital,"  is  more 
properly  ptochia  in  some  of  the  ancient  MSS.,  which  is  a  sort  of 
Latinized  imitation  of  7tT<j%ia — a  house  for  feeding  the  poor. 
Gregory  had  a  large  establishment  of  this  description  in  Rome, 
attended  by  pious  monks,  for  whose  service  those  barbarians  were 
purchased.  Procopius  informs  us,  lib.  ii.  de  Bello  Vandanco,  cap.  13, 
^ho  these  Barbary  slaves  were.  "  When  the  Vandals  had  conquered 


336  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


the  Moors  of  Africa,  they  were  annoyed  by  the  incursions  of  some 
of  the  barbarians  of  the  southern  part  of  Numidia.  In  order  to 
prevent  this,  they  seized  upon  them,  their  wives  and  children,  and 
transported  them  to  the  island  of  Sardinia :  kept  prisoners  and 
slaves  for  some  time  here,  they  escaped  to  the  vicinity  of  Cagliari, 
and,  forming  a  body  of  3000  men,  they  regained  a  sort  of  freedom. 
Gregory  made  various  efforts  to  convert  them.  They  who  were 
kept  in  thraldom  were  frequently  purchased,  as  in  this  instance, 
by  the  Italians  and  others." 

This  is  the  first  instance  on  record  of  the  purchase- of  negro 
slaves  by  the  church,  and  occurred  about  the  year  600.  At  that 
time,  white  slaves  cost  less  than  the  expense  of  importation  from 
Africa. 

In  his  sixth  book,  ep.  21,  Gregory  commands  the  priest  Can- 
didus,  who  was  his  agent  in  Gaul,  to  purchase  four  of  the  brothers 
of  one  Dominic,  who  complained  to  him  that  they  were  redeemed 
from  their  captors  by  Jews  in  Narbonne,  and  held  by  them  in 
slavery. 

The  seventh  book,  ep.  22,  to  John,  the  bishop  of  Syracuse,  is 
a  very  curious  document.  It  recites  the  case  of  one  Felix,  who 
was  a  slave  born  of  Christian  parents,  and  given  in  his  youth  as  a 
present  to  a  Jew  by  a  Christian  owner :  he  served  illegally  during 
nineteen  years  the  Jew  who,  was  disqualified  from  holding  a  Chris 
tian  slave;  but  Maximinian  the  former  bishop  of  Syracuse,  learn 
ing  the  facts,  had,  as  in  duty  bound,  Felix  discharged  from  this 
service  and  made  free.  Five  years  subsequently,  a  son  of  the 
Jew  became,  or  pretended  to  become,  a  Christian,  and  being  thus 
qualified  to  hold  a  Christian  slave,  claimed  Felix  as  his  property. 
Felix  appealed  to  the  pope,  and  the  letter  to  the  bishop  of  Syra 
cuse  is  a  decision  in  favour  of  his  freedom,  containing  also  an  order 
to  the  bishop  to  protect  him  and  defend  his  liberty. 


LESSON  XV. 

WE  have  heretofore,  in  our  fifth  lesson,  noticed  the  doctrine  of 
the  church,  that  the  civil  power  had  the  prerogative  of  making 
laws  in  regard  to  slavery ;  although,  at  that  timfc,  paganism  may 
be  said  to  have  governed  the  world.  And  while  we  travel  rapidly 
through  the  seventh  century,  finding  the  Roman  Empire,  the  mis 
tress  of  the  world,  now  tottering  to  decay ;  the  Lombards  firmly 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  337 

• 

established  in  Italy ;  the  Franks  in  Gaul ;  the  Goths  in  Spain ; 
the  Suevi  in  Portugal ;  and  all  Germany  filled  by  various  hordes, 
governed  by  their  petty  chieftains,  just  now  showing  some  symp 
toms  of  civilization,  and.  Christianity  in  the  ascendant ;  yet  we 
find  this  doctrine  of  the  church  unchanged. 

The  church  may  now  be  considered  strong ;  and  although  the 
civil  power  is  regarded  as  the  legitimate  legislative  authority,  yet, 
in  no  instance,  are  the  laws  found  to  run  counter  to  the  doctrines 
of  the  church  on  this  subject. 

In  the  precept  of  King  Clotaire  II.  for  endowing  the  abbey  of 
Corbey,  after  the  grant  of  the  parcels  of  land  therein  recited,  he 
adds,  "  umi  cum  terris,  domibus,  mancipiis,  sedificiis,  vineis,  silvis, 
pratis,  pascuis,  farinariis,  et  cunctis  appenditiis,"  &c. — Together 
with  the  lands,  houses,  slaves,  buildings,  vineyards,  ivoods,  mea 
dows,  pastures,  granaries,  and  all  appendages. 

And  the  abbey  not  only  possessed  the  slaves  as  property,  but  by 
the  same  precept  had  civil  jurisdiction  over  all  its  territory  and  all 
persons  and  things  thereon,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  judges. 

The  fourth  council  of  Toledo,  in  633,  in  its  fifty-ninth  canon, 
by  the  authority  of  King  Sisenand  and  his  nobles  in  Spain,  restored 
to  liberty  any  slaves  whom  the  Jews  should  circumcise,  and  in  the 
sixty-sixth  canon,  by  the  same  authority,  Jews  were  thenceforth 
rendered  incapable  of  holding  Christian  slaves.  The  seventieth 
and  the  seventy-first  canons  regulated  the  process  regarding  the 
freed  persons  and  colonists  of  the  church,  and  the  latter  affixed  a 
penalty  of  reduction  to  slavery  for  neglect  of  formal  observances 
useful  to  preserve  the  evidence  of  title  for  the  colonist.  The 
seventy-second  canon  places  the  freed  persons,  whether  wholly 
manumitted  or  only  conditioned,  when  settled  under  patronage  of 
the  church,  under  the  protection  of  the  clergy. 

The  seventy-fourth  allows  the  church  to  manumit  worthy  slaves 
belonging  to  herself,  so  that  they  may  be  ordained  priests  or 
deacons,  but  still  keeps  the  property  they  may  acquire,  as  belong 
ing  to  the  church  which  manumitted  them,  and  restricts  them 
even  in  their  capacity  as  witnesses  in  several  instances ;  and 
should  they  violate  this  condition,  declares  them  suspended. 

In  the  year  650,  which  was  the  sixth  of  King  Clovis  II. ,  a  coun 
cil  was  held  at  Chalons.  The  canon  begins  with  the  announce 
ment — 

Pietatis  est  maximse  et  religionis  intuitus,  ut  captivitatis  vinculum 

omnino  a  Christianis  redimatur.     Unde  sancta  synodus  noscitur 

22 


338  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.. 

censuisse,  ut  nullus  mancipium  extra  fines  vel  terminos  qui  ad  reg- 
num  domini  Clodovei  regis  pertinent,  penitus,  debeat  venumdare ; 
ne,  quod  absit,  per  tale  cominercium  aut  captivitatis  vinculo,  vel, 
quod  pejus  est,  Judaic^  servitute  mancipia  Christiana  teneantur 
implicita. 

"It  is  a  work  of  the  greatest  piety,  and  the  intent  of  religion, 
that  the  bond  of  captivity  should  be  entirely  redeemed  from  Chris 
tians.  Whence  it  is  known  to  be  the  opinion  of  the  holy  synod, 
that  no  one  ought,  at  all,  to  sell  a  slave  beyond  the  dominions  of 
our  lord  Clovis  the  king ;  lest,  which  God  forbid,  Christian  slaves 
should  be  kept  entangled  in  the  chains  of  captivity,  or  what  is 
worse,  under  Jewish  bondage." 

In  the  tenth  council  of  Toledo,  celebrated  in  the  year  656,  in 
the  reign  of  Receswind,  king  of  the  Goths,  the  seventh  chapter  is  a 
bitter  complaint  of  the  practice,  which  still  prevailed  among  Chris 
tians,  of  selling  Christian  slaves  to  the  Jews,  to  the  subversion  of 
their  faith  or  their  grievous  oppression. 

In  the  year  666,  a  council  was  held  in  Merida,  in  Spain.  The 
eighteenth  canon  of  which  allows  that,  of  the  slaves  belonging  to 
the  church,  some  may  be  ordained  minor  clerks,  who  shall  serve 
the  priests  as  their  masters  with  due  fidelity,  receiving  only  food 
and  raiment. 

The  twentieth  chapter  complains  of  many  irregularities  in  the 
mode  of  making  freedmen  for  the  service  of  the  church,  regulates 
the  mode  of  making  them,  and  provides  for  the  preservation  of 
the  evidence  of  their  obligation  and  the  security  of  their  service. 

The  twenty-first  regulates  the  extent  to  which  a  bishop  shall 
be  allowed  to  grant  gifts  to  his  friends,  the  slaves,  the  freedmen, 
or  others. 

The  thirteenth  council  of  Toledo  was  held  in  the  year  683,  in 
the  reign  of  Ervigius,  the  successor  of  Wamba.  There  was  an 
old  law  of  the  Goths,  found  in  lib.  v.  tit.  vii.,  and  repeated  in  other 
forms  in  lib.  x.  and  xi.,  regulating  that  no  freedman  should  do  an 
injury  or  an  unkindness  to  his  master,  and  authorizing  the  master 
who  had  suffered,  to  bring  such  offender  back  again  to  his  state 
of  slavery.  And  in  lib.  xvii.  the  freedman,  and  his  progeny  for 
ever,  were  prohibited  from  contracting  marriage  with  the  family 
of  their  patron  or  behaving  with  insolence  to  them.  King  Ervigius 
was  reminded  by  many  of  his  nobles  that  former  kings,  in  deroga 
tion  of  this  law,  had  given  employments  about  the  palace  to  slaves 
and  to  freedmen,  and  even  sustained  them  in  giving  offence  to 


^TUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  339 

their  masters,  had  even  sometimes  ordered  them  so  to  do,  and  pro 
tected  them  ;  for  this  the  nobles  sought  redress.  The  king  called 
upon  the  council  to  unite  with  him  in  putting  a  stop  to  this  indig 
nity.  And  in  the  sixth  canon  we  have  the  detail  of  the  evils  set, 
forth,  and  also  the  enactment,  ir?  concurrence  with  the  king,  that 
thenceforward  it  shall  be  unlawful  to  give  any  employment  what 
ever  about  the  palace,  or  in  the  concerns  of  the  crown,  to  any  slave 
or  freedman. 

The  third  council  of  Saragossa  was  celebrated  in  the  year  691, 
in  the  reign  of  Egica,  king  of  the  Goths. 

In  Toledo,  it  had  been  enacted,  that  any  freedman  of  the  church, 
who  did  not  comply  with  certain  regulations,  should  lose  his  free 
dom  and  be  reduced  to  slavery.  One  of  the  conditions  was,  that 
any  person  pretending  to  have  been  manumitted,  or  claiming  as  the 
descendant  of  a  freedman,  should,  upon  the  death  of  the  bishop, 
exhibit  his  papers  to  the  successor  of  the  deceased,  within  a  year, 
or,  upon  his  neglect,  should  be  declared  a  slave.  The  object  of 
this  was  to  discern  those  who  were  partially  free  from  the  perfect 
slave,  and  to  cause  the  former  to  preserve  their  muniments. 

The  fathers  of  Saragossa,  however,  discovered  that  some  of  the 
bishops,  studying  their  own  gain,  had  been  too  rigid  in  enforcing 
this  law,  and  thereby  reduced  several  negligent  or  ignorant  per 
sons  to  bondage  ;  in  order  then  to  do  justice,  they  enacted  in  their 
fourth  chapter,  that  the  year  within  which  the  documents  should 
be  exhibited  should  not  commence  to  run  until  after  the  new  bishop, 
subsequently  to  his  institution,  should  have  given  sufficient  notice  to 
those  claiming  to  be  put  in  partial  service,  to  produce  their  papers. 

The  sixteenth  council  of  Toledo  was  held  in  the  year  693.  The 
fifth  chapter  of  the  acts,  determining  when  a  priest  may  hold  two 
churches,  has  the  following  passage : 

Ut  ecclesia,  quse  usque  ad  decem  habuerit  mancipia,  super  se 
habeat  sacerdotem,  quae  vero  minus  decem  mancipia  habuerit  aliis 
conjungatur  ecclesiis. 

"  That  the  church  which  shall  have  as  many  as  ten  slaves  shall 
have  one  priest  over  it,  but  that  one  which  shall  have  less  than 
ten  slaves  shall  be  united  to  other  churches." 

In  the  tenth  chapter  of  the  acts  of  the  same  council,  not  only 
was  excommunication  pronounced  against  all  who  should  be  guilty 
of  high  treason  against  Egica,  the  king  of  the  Gothic  nation,  but 
the  bishops  ard  clergy  united  with  the  nobles  (palatii  senioribus) 
and  the  popular  representatives  in  condemning  traitors  and  their 


340  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

progeny  to  perpetual  slavery,  (fad  viribus  sub  perpetud  servitute 
maneant  religati.} 

The  laws  of  Ina,  king  of  the  West  Saxons,  about  the  year  692, 
were  made  for  the  regulation  of  religion: 

JServus,  si  quid  operis  patrarit  Hie  Dominico  ex  praecepto  domini 
sui,  liber  esto,  dominus  trigirita  solidos  dependito.  Verum  si  id 
operis  injussu  domini  sui  aggressus  fuerit,  verberibus  creditor,  aut 
saltern  virgarum  metum  precio  redimito.  Liber,  si  die  hoc  operetur 
injussu  domini  sui,  aut  servituti  addicitor,  aut  sexaginta  solidos 
dependito.  Sacerdos,  si  in  hanc  partem  deliquerit,  poena  in  duplum 
augeator. 

•"If  a  slave  shall  do  any  work  on  the  Lord's  day,  by  order  of 
his  master,  let  him  become  free,  and  let  the  master  pay  thirty 
shillings,  (another  copy  adds,  ;  ad  witam,'  as  a  fine.)  But,  if  he 
went  to  this  work  without  his  master's  command,  let  him  be  cut 
with  whips,  (another  copy  has  '  corium  perdat,'  let  him  lose  his 
skin,)  or  at  least,  let  him  redeem  the  fear  of  the  scourge  by  a 
price.  A  freeman,  if  on  this  day  he  shall  work  without  the  order 
of  his  lord,  let  him  be  reduced  to  slavery,  or  pay  sixty  shillings. 
Should  a  priest  be  delinquent  in  this  respect,  his  penalty  shall  be 
increased  to  double." 

In  the  eighth,  the  division  of  the  weregild  for  the  killing  of  a 
stranger : 

Wallus  censum  pendens  annuum,  120  solidorum  sestimatur,  filius 
ejus  100.  Servus,  alias  60,  alias  50,  solidis  valere  putatur.  Wal 
lus  virgarum  metum  12  solidis  redimito.  Wallus  quinque  terras 
hydas  possidens  600  solidis  aestimandus  est. 

"  A  stranger  paying  a  yearly  rent  is  to  be  rated  at  120  shil 
lings,  his  son  at  100.  A  slave  at  either  50  or  60,  is  a  fair  estima 
tion.  Let  a  stranger  redeem  his  fear  of  whipping  for  12  shillings. 
A  stranger  being  in  possession  of  five  hydes  of  land  is  to  be  valued 
at  600  shillings." 

The  seventeenth  council  of  Toledo  was  celebrated  in  604,  in 
the  reign  of  Egica.  It  was  enacted — 

Si  quis  servum  proprium  sine  conscientia  judicis  occiderit,  ex- 
communicatione  biennii  sanguinir  e  mundabit. 

"  If  any  one  shall  put  his  own  slave  to  death,  without  the  know 
ledge  of  the  judge,  he  shall  cleanse  himself  the  blood  by  an  ex 
communication  of  two  years." 

In  the  council  of  Berghamstead,  near  Canterbury,  held  in  697, 
under  Withred,  king  of  Kent,  at  which  Gebmund,  bishop  of  Ro- 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  341 

Chester,  was  present,  and  where  a  sort  of  parliament  also  assem 
bled  and  gave  a  civil  sanction  to  the  temporal  enactments  and 
penalties  of  the  canons,  several  regulations  were  made  concerning 
slaves.  The  Saxon  MS.  is  the  adoption  of  the  canons  into  the 
common  law  of  Canterbury,  anti  is  entitled  "  The  Judgments  of 
Witkred." 
The  ninth  canon  in  this  collection  is  the  following : 

Si  quis  servum  suum  ad  altare  manumiserit,  liber  esto,  et  habilis 
sit  ad  gaudendum  hereditate  et  wirigildo,  et  fas  sit  ei  ubi  volet 
sine  limite  versari. 

"  If  any  person  shall  manumit  his  servant  at  the  altar,  let  him 
be  free,  and  capable  of  enjoying  inheritance  and  weregild,  and  let 
it  be  lawful  for  him  to  dwell  where  he  pleases  without  limit." 

The  tenth  canon  is  : 

Si  in  vesper^  praecedente  diem  solis  postquam  sol  occubuit,  aut 
in  vespera  praecedente  diem  lunae  post  occasum  solis,  servus  ex 
mandato  domini  sui  opus  aliquod  servile  egerit,  dominus  factum 
octoginta  solidis  luito. 

"  If  on  the  evening  preceding  Sunday,  after  the  sun  has  set,  or 
on  the  evening  preceding  Monday,  after  the  setting  of  the  sun,  a 
slave  shall  do  any  servile  work  by  command  of  his  master,  let  the 
master  compensate  the  deed  by  eighty  shillings." 

The  eleventh : 

Si  servus  hisce  diebus  itineraverit,  domino  pendat  sex  solidos, 
aut  flagello  csedatur. 

"  If  a  servant  shall  have  journeyed  on  these  days,  let  him  pay 
six  shillings  to  his  master,  or  be  cut  with  a  whip." 

The  thirteenth : 

Si  paganus  uxore  nescia;  diabolo  quid  obtulerit,  omnibus  fortunis 
suis  plectatur  et  collistrigio.  Sin  et  ambo  pariter  itidem  fecerint, 
omnium  bonorum  suorum  amissione  ipsa  etiam  luat  et  collistrigio. 

"  If  a  villain,  without  the  knowledge  of  his  wife,  shall  have 
offered  any  thing  to  the  devil,  let  him  be  punished  by  the  loss  of 
all  his  fortune  and  by  the  pillory.  And  if  both  did  so  together, 
let  her  also  lose  all  her  goods  and  be  punished  by  the  pillory." 

The  English  villain  was  the  colonist  of  the  European  continent, 
and  in  the  Speculum  Saxonicum,  lib.  i.  art.  3,  his  imperfect  liberty 
*is  compared  with  the   freeman.     Also    in    Du  Cange,   Paganus, 
Pagenses,  &c. 

The  fourteenth : 

Si  servus  diabolo  offerat,  sex  dependat  solidos,  aut  flagro  vapulet. 


342  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


"  If  a  slave  offers  to  the  devil,  let  him  pay  six  shillings,  or  be 
whipped." 

The  .ifteenth : 

Si  quis  servo  carnem  in  jejunio  dederit  comedendam,  servus  liber 
exeat. 

"If  any  one  shall  give  his  slave  flesh-meat  to  eat  on  a  fast-day, 
let  the  slave  go  out  free." 

The  sixteenth : 

Si  servus  ex  sponte  sua,  earn  ederit,  aut  sex  solidis  aut  flagello. 

"  If  the  slave  shall  eat  it  of  his  own  motion,  let  the  penalty  be 
either  six  shillings  or  a  whipping." 

After  regulating  the  mode  of  declaration  of  swearing  and  of 
compurgation,  for  the  king,  the  bishop,  the  abbot,  the  priest,  the 
deacon,  the  cleric,  the  stranger,  and  the  king's  thane,  the  twenty- 
first  canon  enacts — 

Paganus  cum  quatuor  compurgatoribus,  capite  suo  ad  altare  in- 
clinato,  semet  eximat. 

"  Let  the  villain  deliver  himself  with  four  compurgators,  with 
his  head  bowed  down  to  the  altar." 

The  twenty-third : 

Si  quis  Dei  mancipium  in  conventu  suo  accusaverit,  dominus 
ejus  eum  simplici  suo  juramento  purgabit,  si  eucharistiam  susce- 
perit.  Ad  eucharistiam  autem  si  nusquam  venerit,  habeat  in  jura 
mento  fidejussorem  bonum,  vel  sol  vat,  vel  se  tradat  flagellandum. 

"  If  any  person  shall  accuse  a  slave  of  God  in  his  convent,  his 
lord  shall  purge  him  with  a  simple  oath,  if  he  shall  have  received 
the  eucharist.  But  if  he  has  never  come  to  the  eucharist,  let  him 
in  his  oath  have  a  good  surety  to  answer,  or  let  him  pay  or  give 
himself  up  to  be  whipped." 

The  slave  of  God  was  one  belonging  to  a  monastery,  of  whom 
there  appear  to  have  been  a  good  number  in  England,  at  that 
period,  as  well  as  on  the  continent.  The  previous  canon  had  legis 
lated  for  the  bishop's  dependants  as  distinguished  from  the  slave 
of  the  monastery. 

The  twenty -fourth  canon  is  : 

Si  servus  viri  popularis  servum  viri  ecclesiastici  accusaverit,  vel 
servus  ecclesiastici  servum  viri  popularis,  dominus  ejus  singular! 
suo  juramento  eum  expurgabit. 

"  If  the  slave  of  a  lay  person  shall  accuse  the  slave  of  a  clergy 
man,  or  if  the  slave  of  a  clergyman  shall  accuse  the  slave  of  a 
layman,  let  his  master  purge  him  by  his  single  oath." 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  34B 

The  twenty-seventh  regulated  the  punishment  of  the  person  who 
permitted  a  thievish  slave  to  escape,  and,  respecting  the  slave  him 
self,  concluded  thus  : 

Si  quis  eum  occiderit,  domino  ejus  dimidium  pendito. 

"  If  any  one  shall  slay  him,  let  him  pay  to  his  master  one- 
half." 

In  Germany,  however,  as  yet,  in  most  places  paganism  pre 
vailed,  and  human  sacrifices  were  offered.  St.  Boniface  had  been 
sent  by  the  Holy  See  to  endeavour  to  reclaim  to  religion  and  to 
civilization  the  nations  or  tribes  that  composed  this  undefined  ex 
tent  of  territory.  We  find  in  a  letter  of  Pope  Gregory  III.,  written 
in  answer  to  his  request  for  special  instructions,  about  the  year  735, 
the  following  paragraph : 

Haec  quoque  inter  alia  crimina  agi  in  partibus  illis  dixisti,  quod 
quidam  ex  fidelibus  ad  iinmolandum  paganis  sua  venumdent  man- 
cipia.  Quod  ut  magnopere  corrigere  debeas,  frater,  commonemus, 
nee  sinas  fieri  ultra :  scelus  est  enim  et  impietas.  Eis  ergo  qui 
hsec  perpetraverunt,  similem  homicides  indices  poenitentiam. 

"  You  have  said  that,  among  other  crimes,  this  was  done  in  those 
parts,  that  some  of  the  faithful  sold  their  slaves  to  pagans  to  be 
immolated.  Which  you  should  use  all  your  power  to  correct,  nor 
allow  it  to  be  done  any  more :  for  it  is  wickedness  and  impiety. 
Impose  then  upon  its  perpetrators  the  same  penance  as  for  homi 
cide." 


LESSON  XVI. 

THEODORE,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  governed  the  English 
church  from  670  to  690,  when  he  died.  The  following  extracts 
are  from  his  canonical  regulations  : 

VII.  Grseci  et  Romani  dant  servis  suis  vestimenta,  et  laborant 
excepto  Dominico  die.  Graecorum  monachi  servos  non  habent, 
Romani  habent. 

"  The  Greeks  and  Romans  give  clothing  to  their  slaves,  and  they 
work  except  on  the  Lord's  day.  The  Greek  monks  have  not  slaves, 
the  Romans  have." 

XVII.  Ingenuus  cum  ingenua  conjungi  debet. 

"  A  free  man  should  be  married  to  a  free  woman." 


344  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

LXV.  Qui  per  jussionem  domini  sui  occiderit  hominem,  dies  xl. 
jejunet. 

"  He  who,  by  the  command  of  his  master,  shall  kill  a  man,  shall 
fast  forty  days." 

The  seventy-first  prohibits  the  intermarriages  of  those  slaves 
whose  owners  will  prevent  their  living  together. 

The  seventy -fourth  regulates,  that  if  a  free  pregnant -woman  be 
sold  into  slavery,  the  child  that  she  bears  shall  be  free ;  all  subse 
quently  born  shall  be  slaves. 

LXXIX.  Pater  filium  necessitate  coactus  in  servitium  sine  volun- 
tate  filii  tradat. 

"  A  father,  compelled  by  necessity,  may  deliver  his  son  into 
slavery  without  the  will  of  that  son." 

LXXXIX.  Episcopus  et  abbas  hominem  sceleratum  servum 
possunt  habere,  si  precium  redimendi  non  habet. 

"  A  bishop  or  an  abbot  can  hold  a  criminal  in  slavery,  if  he 
have  not  the  price  of  his  redemption." 

CXVII.  Servo  pecuniam  per  laborem  comparatam  nulli  licet 
auferre. 

"It  is  not  lawful  for  any  one  to  take  away  from  a  slave  the 
money  made  by  labour." 

In  the  council  of  Verberie,  held  in  a  palace  of  King  Pepin,  the 
sixth  canon  made  regulations  in  the  case  of  marriage  between  free 
persons  and  slaves.  The  following  are  its  provisions  : 

1.  If  any  free  person  contracted  marriage  with  a  slave,  being  at 
the  time  ignorant  of  the  state  of  bondage  of  that  party,  the  mar 
riage  was  invalid. 

2.  If  a  person  under  bond  should  have  a  semblance  of  freedom 
by  reason  of  condition,  and  the  free   person  be  ignorant  of  the 
bondage,  and  this  bond  person  should  be  brought  into  servitude, 
the  marriage  was  declared  originally  void. 

3.  An  exception  was  made  where  the  bond  person,  by  reason  of 
want,  should,  with  the  consent  of  the  free  party,  sell  himself  or 
herself  into  perfect  slavery  with  the  consent  of  the  free  party ; 
then  the  marriage  was  to  stand  good,  because  the  free  party  had 
consented  to  the  enslavement,  and  profited  of  its  gains. 

The  seventh  canon  would  seem  to  show  that  a  slave  could  hold 
property  in  slaves : 

Si  servus  suam  ancillam  concubinam  habuerit,  si  ita  placet, 
potest  ilia  dimissa  comparem  suam  ancillam  domini  sui  accipere : 
sed  melius  est  suam  ancillam  tenere. 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  345 


"If  a  man-servant  snail  have  his  own  female  slave  as  a  concu 
bine,  he  shall  have  power,  if  .he  wishes,  leaving  her,  to  marry  his 
equal,  the  female  servant  of  his  master :  but  it  is  better  that  he 
should  keep  his  own  servant  in  wedlock." 

The  eighth  canon  provided,  in  the  case  of  a  freedman  who, 
subsequently  to  his  liberation,  committed  sin  with  the  female  slave 
of  his  former  master,  that  the  master  should  have  power,  whether 
the  freedman  would  or  not,  to  compel  him  to  marry  that  female 
slave ;  and  should  this  man  leave  her,  and  attempt  a  marriage 
with  another  wpjpan,  this  latter  must  be  separated  from  him. 

The  thirteenth  declares  that  when  a  freeman,  knowing  that  the 
woman  whom  he  is  about  to  marry  is  a  slave,  or,  not  having  known 
it  until  after  marriage,  voluntarily  upon  the  discovery  consents  to 
the^marriage,  it  is  thenceforth  indissoluble. 

The  nineteenth  declares  that  the  separation  of  married  parties, 
by  the  sale  of  one  who  is  a  slave,  does  not  affect  the  marriage. 
They  must  be  admonished,  if  they  cannot  be  reunited,  to  remain 
continent. 

The  twentieth  provides  for  the  case  of  a  male  slave  freed  by 
letter,  (cJiartellarim,)  who,  having  for  his  wife  taken  a  slave  with 
the  lawful  consent  of  her  master,  and  leaving  her,  takes  another 

7  O  ' 

as  his  wife.  The  latter  contract  is  void,  and  the  parties  must 
separate. 

Another  assembly  was  held  by  King  Pepin,  in  Compeigne,  forty- 
eight  miles  north-east  of  Paris,  where  he  had  a  country-seat.  At 
this  assembly  also  the  prelates  held  a  council  in  757,  and  made 
eighteen  canons.  The  fourth  makes  provision  for  the  case  of  a 
man's  giving  his  free  step-daughter  in  wedlock  to  a  freeman  or  to 
a  slave.  The  fifth  declares  void  the  marriage  between  a  free  per 
son  and  a  slave,  where  the  former  was  ignorant  of  the  condition  of 
the  latter.  The  sixth  regards  a  case  of  a  complicated  description, 
where  a  freeman  got  a  civil  benefice  from  his  lord,  and  takes  his 
own  vassal  with  him,  and  dies  upon  the  benefice,  leaving  after  him 
the  vassal.  Another  freeman  becomes  invested  with  the  benefice, 
and,  anxious  to  induce  the  vassal  to  remain,  gives  him  a  female 
serf  attached  to  the  soil  as  his  wife.  Having  lived  with  her  for  a 
time,  the  vassal  leaves  her,  and  returns  to  the  lord's  family,  to 
which  he  owed  his  services,  and  there  he  contracts  a  marriage  with 
one  of  the  same  allegiance.  His  first  contract  was  invalid,  the 
second  was  the  marriage. 

In  the  year  772,  a  council  was  held  in  Bavaria,  at  a  place  called 


346  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 

Dingolvinga,  the  present  city  of  Ingolstadt,  in  the  reign  of  Tassilo, 
duke  of  Bavaria.  The  tenth  canon  of  this  council  decides  that  a 
noble  woman,  who  had  contracted  marriage  with  a  slave,  not  being 
aware  of  his  condition,  is  at  liberty  to  leave  him,  the  contract  being 
void,  and  she  is  to  be  considered  free  and  not  to  be  reduced  to 
slavery.  By  noble  we  are  here  to  understand  free,  as  distinguished 
from  ignoble,  that  is,  a  slave. 

We  have  then  sixteen  amendments  of  the  national  law. 

The  first  regulates,  by  the  authority  of  the  prince  and  consent 
of  the  whole  assembly,  that  henceforth  no  slave,  whether  fugitive 
or  other,  should  be  sold  beyond  the  limits  of  the  territory,  under 
penalty  of  the  payment  of  his  weregild. 

In  the  second,  among  other  things,  it  is  enacted  that  if  a  slave 
should  be  killed  in  the  commission  of  house-breaking,  his  owner  is 
to  receive  no  compensation ;  and  should  the  felon  who  is  killed  in 
man-stealing,  when  he  could  not  be  taken,  whether  it  be  a  freeman 
or  a  slave  that  he  is  carrying  off,  no  weregild  shall  be  paid  by  the 
slayer,  but  he  shall  be  bound  to  prove  his  case  before  a  court. 

The  seventh  regards  the  trial  by  ordeal  of  slaves  freed  by  the 
duke's  hand. 

The  eighth  establishes  and  guards  the  freedom,  not  only  of  them 
selves,  but  of  their  posterity,  of  those  freed  in  the  church,  unless 
when  they  may  be  reduced  to  slavery  from  inability  to  pay  for 
damages  which  they  had  committed. 

The  ninth  contains,  among  other  enactments,  those  which  explain 
the  tenth  canon  of  the  council.  After  specifying  different  were- 
gilds  for  freed  persons,  it  says — 

Si  ancilla  libera  dimissa  fuerit  per  chartam  aut  in  ecclesia,  et 
post  hsec  servo  nupserit,  ecclesise  ancilla  permanebit. 

"  Should  a  female  slave  be  emancipated  by  deed  or  in  the 
church,  and  afterwards  marry  a  slave,  she  shall  be  a  slave  to  the 
church." 

It  then  continues,  respecting  a  woman  originally  free,  and  the 
nobilis  of  canon  x. : 

Si  autem  libera  Bajoaria  servo  ecclesiae  nupserit,  et  servile  opus 
ancilla  contradixerit,  abscedat.» 

"But  if  a  free  Bavarian  female  shall  have  married  a  servant  of 
the  church,  and  the  maid  will  not  submit  to  servile  work,  she  may 
depart." 

Si  autem  ibi  filios  et  filias  generaverit,  ipsi  servi  et  ancillse  per- 
maneant,  potestatem  exinde  (exeundi)  non  habeant. 


STUDy|S    ON'SLAVERY.  347 

"  But  if  she  shall  have  the*re  borne  so^s  and  daughters,  they 
shall  continue  slaves,  and  not  have  power  of  going  forth." 

Her  freedom  was  not,  however,  immediately  destroyed,  for  the 
law  proceeds — 

Ilia  autem  mater  eorum,  quando  exire  voluerit,  ante  annos  iii, 
liberam  habeat  potestatem. 

"  But  she,  their  mother,  when  she  may  desire  to  go  forth  before 
three  years,  shall  have  free  power  therefor." 

In  this  case  the  marriage  subsisted,  but  the  free  woman  could 
separate,  without  however  the  marriage-bond  being  rent.  If  she 
remained  beyond  the  time  of  three  years,  she  lost  her  freedom  ; 
and  it  shows  us  that,  probably,  previous  to  this  amendment,  any 
free  woman  who  married  a  slave,  thereby  lost  her  own  freedom  ; 
and  that  the  tenth  canon,  showing  the  marriage  of  which  it 
treated  to  be  invalid,  showed  that  the  woman  should  not  lose  her 
liberty.  The  concluding  provision  of  the  ninth  law  is  as  follows  : 

Si  autem  in  annos  induraverit  opus  ancillse,  et  parentes  ejus  non 
exadomaverunt  earn  ut  libera  fuisset,  nee  ante  comitem,  ducem,  nee 
ante  regem,  nee  in  publico  mallo,  transactis  tribus  kalendis  Martis, 
(Martu,)  post  hsec  ancilla  permaneat  in  perpetuum,  et  quicumque 
ex  ea  nati  fuerint  servi  et  ancillse  sunt. 

"  But  if  she  shall  have  continued  three  years  doing  the  work  of 
a  slave,  and  her  relations  have  not  brought  her  out  so  that  she 
should  be  free,  either  before  the  count,  or  the  duke,  or  the  king, 
or  in  the  public  high  court,  (mall,)  when  the  kalends  of  March  shall 
have  thrice  passed,  after  this  she  shall  remain  perpetually  a  slave, 
and  they  who  shall  be  born  of  her,  male  and  female,  shall  be 
slaves." 

In  774,  Pope  Adrian  I.  delivered  to  Charlemagne  a  digest  of 
canon  law,  then  in  force,  in  which  we  find — 

;'  The  third  of  Gangrse,  condemning  as  guilty  of  heresy  those 
who  taught  that  religion  sanctioned  the  slave  in  despising  his 
master ;  the  thirtieth  in  the  African  collection,  which  showed  that 
the  power  of  manumission  in  the  church  was  derived  from  the  civil 
authority;  the  one  hundred  and  second  of  the  same,  which  de 
clared  slaves  and  freed  persons  disqualified  to  prosecute,  except  in 
certain  cases  and  for  injuries  done  to  themselves." 

In  a  capitulary  of  Charlemagne,  published  in  such  a  synod  and 
general  assembly  in  779,  in  the  month  of  March,  in  the  eleventh 
year  of  his  reign,  at  Duren,  on  the  Roer,  (Villa  Duria,)  between 
Cologne  and  Aix-la-Chapelle,  there  being  assembled  episcopis, 


348  STUDIES,  ON 

abbatibus,  virisque  illustribus,  comitibus,  una,  cum  piissimo  domino 
nostro, — "the  bishops,  abbots,  and  the  illustrious  men,  the  counts, 
together  with  our  rnqst  pious  lord," — we  find  the  following  chapter : 

XX.  De  mancipiis  quse  venduntur,  ut  in  praesentia,  episcopi  vel 
comitis  sit,  aut  in  praesentia  archdiaconi,  aut  centenarii,  aut  in 
praesentia  vicedomini,  aut  judicis  comitis,  aut  ante  bene  nota  testi- 
monia.  Et  foras  marcham  nemo  mancipium  vendat.  Qui  fecerit, 
tantis  vicibus  bannos  solvet,  quanta  mancipia  vendidit.  Et  si  non 
habet  precium  vivadio,  pro  servo  semetipsum  donet  comiti,  usque- 
dum  ipsos  bannos  solvat. 

"  Concerning  slaves  that  are  sold,  let  it  be  in  presence  of  the 
bishop,  or  of  the  count,  or  in  presence  of  the  archdeacon,  or  of  the 
judge  of  the  hundred,  or  in  presence  of  the  lord's  deputy,  or  of 
the  judge  of  the  county,  or  of  well  known  witnesses.  And  let  no 
one  sell  a  slave  beyond  the  boundary.  Whosoever  shall  do  so 
shall  pay  as  many  fines  as  he  sold  slaves.  And  if  he  has  not  the 
money,  let  him  deliver  himself  to  the  count  in  pledge  as  a  slave 
until  he  shall  pay  the  fines." 

In  a  capitulary  of  Pope  Adrian  I.,  containing  the  summary  of 
the  chief  part  of  the  canon  law  then  in  force,  as  collected  from  the 
ancient  councils  and  other  sources,  delivered  to  Ingilram,  bishop 
of  Metz,  or,  as  it  was  then  called,  Divodurum,  or  oppidum  Medio- 
matricorum,  on  the  19th  of  September,  xiii.  kalendas  Octobris, 
indie,  ix.  785,  the  sixteenth  chapter,  describing  those  who  cannot 
be  witnesses  against  priests,  mentions  not  merely  slaves,  but 
quorum  vitae  libertas  nescitur,  those  who  are  not  known  to  be  free  ; 
and  in  the  notes  of  Anthony  Augustus,  bishop  of  Tarragona,  on 
this  capitulary,  he  refers  for  this  and  another  passage,  viles  per- 
sonae,  persons  of  vile  condition,  which  is  the  appellation  of  slaves, 
to  decrees  of  the  earliest  of  popes,  viz.,  Anacletus,  A.  D.  91,  and 
Clement  his  immediate  successor ;  Evaristus,  who  was  the  next, 
and  died  A.  D.,  109  ;  Pius,  who  died  A.  D.  157 ;  Calistus,  in  222  ; 
Fabian,  250 ;  and  several  others.  In  chapter  xxi.  among  incom 
petent  witnesses,  are  recited,  nullus  servus,  nullus  libertus — no 
slave,  no  freedman.  The  notes  of  the  same  author  inform  us  that 
this  portion  of  the  chapter  is  the  copy  of  an  extract  from  the  first 
council  of  Nice,  and  that  it  is  also  substantially  found  in  a  passage 
from  Pope  Pontianus,  who  died  in  235,  as  well  as  in  several  of  the 
early  African  and  Spanish  councils,  which  he  quotes. 

One  of  these  assemblies,  in  which  Charlemagne  published  a 
capitulary,  was  held,  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  (Aquisgranum)  in  789,  in 

.-* 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  349 


which  eighty-two  chapters  were  enacted.  No.  xxiii.  is  founded 
upon  canon  iv.  of  the  council  of  Chalcedon,  and  upon  an  enact 
ment  of  Leo  the  Great.  It  prohibited  all  attempts  to  induce  a 
slave  to  embrace  either  the  clei'ical  or  monastical  state  without 
the  will  and  license  of  the  master.  No.  xlv.  prohibits,  among 
others,  slaves  from  being  competent  witnesses,  or  freedmen 
against  their  patrons :  founded  upon  the  ninety-sixth  canon  of  the 
African  councils.  No.  Ivii.  referring  to  the  third  canon  of  the  coun 
cil  of  Gangrse,  prohibits  bishops  ordaining  slaves  without  the 
master's  license. 

In  794  a  council  was  held  at  Frankfort  on  the  Maine,  at  which 
the  bishops  of  a  large  portion  of  Europe  assisted ;  the  twenty-third 
canon  of  which  is  the  following  : 

De  servis  alienis,  ut  a  nemine  recipiantur,  neque  ab  episcopis 
sacrentur  sine  licentia  dominorum. 

"  Of  servants  belonging  to  others  :  they  shall  be  received  by  no 
one,  nor  admitted  to  orders  by  bishops,  without  their  masters' 
license." 

In  the  year  697,  at  another  assembly  held  at  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
the  capitulary  for  the  pacification  and  government  of  Saxony  was 
enacted  by  Charlemagne.  The  eighth  chapter  is — 

Si  quis  hominem  diabolo  sacrificaverit,  et  hostiam  in  more  paga- 
norum  doemonibus  obtulerit,  morte  moriatur. 

"  If  any  person  shall  sacrifice  a  man  to  the  devil,  and  offer  him 
as  a  victim  to  devils  after  the  fashion  of  pagans,  he  shall  be  put  to 
death." 

An  explanation  of  this  will  be  found  where  Pope  Gregory  III. 
answers  St.  Boniface,  who  informed  him  that  unfortunate  slaves 
were  bought  to  be  thus  immolated. 

XL  Si  quis  filiam  domini  sui  rapuerit,  morte  moriatur. 
"  If  any  one  shall  do  violence  to  his  master's  daughter,  he  shall 
be  put  to  death." 

XII.  Si  quis  dominum  suum  vel  dominam  suam  interfecerit, 
simili  modo  puniatur. 

"•If  any  one  shall  kill  his  master  or  his  mistress,  he  shall  be 
punished  in  like  manner." 

XIV.  De  minoribus  capitulis  consenserunt  omnes,  ad  unam- 
quamque  ecclesiam  curtem  et  duas  mansas  terras  pagenses  ad  ec- 
clesiara  recurrentes  condonent :  et  inter  centum  viginti  homines 
nobiles  et  ingenuos,  similiter  et  litos,  servum  et  ancillam  eidem 
ecclesi^o  tribuant. 


350  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


"All  agreed  concerning  the  smaller  congregations,  that  the 
colonists  frequenting  each  church  should  bestow  upon  it  one  dwell 
ing,  with  proper  out-offices,  and  two  manses  (24  acres)  of  land ; 
and  that  they  should  give  to  the  same  church  one  male  slave  and 
one  female  slave  between  one  hundred  and  twenty  noble  and  free 
men,  and  counting  also  the  conditioned  servants." 

In  this  newly  settled  ecclesiastical  province  the  provision  made 
for  the  support  of  religion  consisted  of  land  and 


LESSON  XVII. 

UPON  the  ascension  of  Charlemagne  to  the  imperial  throne,  the 
Roman  Empire  may  date  its  extinction.  But,  in  the  reign  of  the 
Franks,  in  their  succession  to  the  throne  of  the  western  empire, 
we  fail  to  find  any  change  of  doctrine  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 
But  the  Lombards  had  long  disturbed  Italy  :  Charlemagne  suc 
ceeded  in  reducing  them  to  better  order,  and,  in  the  year  801, 
amended  their  laws.  One  chapter  assimilated  to  that  of  France 
and  of  Germany  : 

VI.  De  Aldionibus  publicis  ad  jus  publicum  pertinentibus. 

Aldiones  vel  Aldianes  ea  lege  vivant  in  Italia,  in  servitute  domi- 
norum  suorum,  qua  fiscalini  vel  liddi  vivunt  in  Franciai. 

"  Of  the  public  Aldions,  belonging  to  the  public  estate. 

"  The  Aldions,  or  Aldians,  shall  in  Italy  exist  upon  the  same 
principle  in  the  service  of  their  masters  that  the  fiscals  and  lids  do 
exist  in  France." 

The  Aldions  were  bond-men  or  bond-women,  whose  persons 
were  not  at  the  disposal  of  their  masters,  nor  did  they  pass  with 
the  land  as  colonists  did,  but  their  masters  or  patrons  had  certain 
claims  upon  stated  services  from  them.  They  were  generally 
either  freed  persons  or  the  descendants  of  those  who  had  been 
manumitted  upon  the  condition  of  performing  stipulated  services; 
and  if  they  Tailed  to  perform  these,  they  were  liable  to  be  reduced 
to  slavery.  The  lidus  or  liddus  or  litus  of  the  Saxon  was  so 
called  from  being  spared  in  the  conquest,  and  left  on  the  land,  with 
the  obligation  of  paying  the  master,  who  owned  it  and  himself,  a 
certain  portion  of  its  produce,  and  doing  him  other  fixed  services. 
Thus  neither  of  them  was  an  absolute  slave  whose  person  and  pro 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


perty  were  at  the  owner's  disposal.  The  slave  was  manumitted, 
but  this  latter  description  of  servants  were  generally  released  by 
deed  or  charter  :  hence,  when  so  freed,  they  were  called  chartulani, 
chartellani,  or  "chartered."  The  transition  from  slavery  to  this 
Jitter  kind  of  servitude  was,  at  the  commencement  of  the  ninth 
c.e»tury,  greatly  on  the  increase. 
VIII.  De  servis  fugacibus. 

Ubique  intra  Italiam,  sive  regius,  sive  ecclesiasticus,  vel  cujus- 
libet  alterius  hominis  servus  fugitivus  inventus  fuerit  a  domino  suo 
sine  ulla,  annorum  prsescriptione  vindicetur,  e&  tamen  ratione,  si 
dominus  Francus  sive  Alemannus,  aut  alterius  cujuslibet  nationis 
sit.  Si  verd  Longobardus  aut  Eomanus  fuerit,  e&  lege  servos  suos 
vel  adquirat  vel  admittat,  quae  antiquitus  inter  eos  constitutus  est. 

"  Concerning  runaway  slaves. 

"  Wheresoever  within  the  bounds  of  Italy,  either  the  runaway 
slave  of  the  king  or  of  the  church  or  of  any  other  man  shall  be 
found  by  his  master,  he  shall  be  restored  without  any  bar  of  pre 
scription  of  years  ;  yet  upon  the  provision  that  the  master  be  a 
Frank  or  a  German  or  of  any  other  nation,  (foreign.)  But  if  he 
be  a  Lombard  or  a  Roman,  he  shall  acquire  or  receive  his  slaves 
by  that  law  which  has  been  established  from  ancient  times  among; 
them." 

Here  is  evidence  of  the  prevalent  usage  of  the  church  holding 
property  in  slaves,  just  as  commonly  as  did  the  king  or  any  other 
person. 

In  the  year  805,  Charlemagne  published  a  capitulary  at  Thion- 
ville,  in  the  department  of  Moselle,  France,  (Theodonis  villa.)  In 
the  chap.  xi.  we  read  — 

De  servis  propriis  vel  ancillis. 

De  propriis  servis  et  ancillis,  ut  non  supra  modum  in  monasteria 
sumantur,  ne  deserentur  villse. 

"  Concerning  their  own  male  or  female  slaves. 

"Let  not  an  excessive  number  of  their  own  male  or  female 
slaves  be  taken  into  the  monasteries,  lest  the  farms  be  deserted." 

This  capitulary  regards  principally  the  regulation  of  monas 
teries. 

St.  Pachomius,  who  was  born  in  Upper  Egypt,  in  292,  and  who 
was  the  first  that  drew  up  a  regular  monastic  rule,  would  never 
admit  a  slave  into  a  monastery.  Tittemont,  vii.  p.  180. 

In  the  year  813,  a  council  was  held  at  Chalons,  the  portions  of 
whose  enactments  in  any  way  affecting  property  or  civil  rights 


852  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


were  confirmed  by  Charlemagne  and  made  a  portion  of  the  law  of 
the  empire. 

Many  of  the  churches,  especially  in  the  country,  were  curtailed 
:n  their  income  and  reduced  to  difficulties,  because  the  bishops  and 
abbots  had  large  estates  within  their  parishes,  and  many  servant^ 
occupied  in  their  cultivation,  and  the  prelates  prevented  these  ser 
vants  paying  tithes  to  the  parish  clergy,  claiming  for  themselves 
an  exemption  from  the  obligation.  The  canon  xix.  is  the  fol 
lowing  : 

Questi  sunt  praeterea  quidam  fratres,  quod  essent  quidam  epis- 
copi  et  abbates,  qui  decimas  non  sinerent  dari  ecclesiis  ubi  illi 
colom  missas  audiunt.  Proinde  decrevit  sacer  ille  conventus,  ut 
episcopi  et  abbates  de  agris  et  vineis,  quae  ad  suum  vel  fratrum 
stipendium  habent,  decimas  ad  ecclesias  deferri  faciant :  familise 
vero  ibi  dent  decimas  suas,  ubi  infantes  eorum  baptizantur,  et  ubi 
per  totum  anni  circulum  missas  audiunt. 

"  Moreover  some  brethren  have  complained,  that  there  were 
some  bishops  and  abbots  who  would  not  permit  tithes  to  be  given 
to  those  churches  where  colonists  hear  mass.  Wherefore  that  holy 
assembly  decreed,  that,  for  those  fields  and  vineyards  which  they 
have  for  their  own  support  or  that  of  their  brethren,  the  bishops 
and  abbots  should  cause  the  tithe  to  be  paid  to  the  churches.  And 
let  the  servants  pay  their  tithes  to  the  church  where  their  infants 
are  baptized,  and  where  during  the  year  they  hear  mass." 

In  this  we  have  additional  evidence  of  the  fact  that  large  bodies 
of  land,  and  numerous  servants  attached  to  them,  were  held  by 
bishops  and  abbots,  not  only  for  themselves,  but  for  their  churches 
and  their  monasteries.  The  canon  xxx.  is  the  following : 

Dictum  nobis  est  quod  quidam  legitima  servorum  matrimonia 
potestiva  quadam  praesumptione  dirimant,  non  attendentes  illud 
evangelicum :  Quod  Deus  conjunxit,  homo  non  separet.  Undo 
nobis  visum  est,  ut  conjugia  servorum  non  dirimantur,  etiam  si 
diversos  dominos  habeant :  sed  in  uno  conjugio  permanentes  do- 
minis  suis  serviant.  Et  hoc  in  illis  observandum  est,  ubi  legalis 
conjunctio  fuit,  et  per  voluntatem  dominorum. 

"  It  has  been  stated  to  us  that  some  persons,  by  a  sort  of  magis 
terial  presumption,  dissolve  the  lawful  marriages  of  slaves;  not 
regarding  that  evangelical  maxim,  What  God  hath  put  together, 
let  man  not  separate.  Whence  it  appears  to  us,  that  the  wedlock 
of  slaves  may  not  be  dissolved,  even  though  they  have  different 
masters ;  but  let  them  serve  their  masters,  remaining  in  one  wed- 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  353 

lock.  And  this  is  to  be  observed  with  regard  to  those  where  there 
has  been  a  lawful  union,  and  with  the  will  of  the  owners." 

In  the  year  816,  a  council  was  held  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  in  which 
a  large  portion  of  the  canon  law  then  in  force  regarding  the  clergy 
was  imbodied  into  one  hundred  and  forty-five  chapters.  After 
the  session  of  the  council,  the  emperor  published  a  capitulary  con 
taining  thirty  chapters ;  the  sixth  of  which  complains  of  the  con 
tinued  indiscretion  of  bishops  in  ordaining  servants,  contrary  to 
the  canons,  and  forbids  such  ordinations  except  upon  the  master's 
giving  full  liberty  to  the  slave.  If  a  servant  shall  impose  upon  a 
bishop  by  false  witnesses  or  documents  of  freedom,  and  thus  pro 
cure  ordination,  he  shall  be  deposed  and  taken  back  by  his  owner. 
If  the  descendant  of  a  slave  who  came  from  abroad  shall  have 
been  educated  and  ordained,  where  there  was  no  knowledge  of  his 
condition,  should  his  owner  subsequently  discover  him  and  prove 
his  property,  if  this  owner  grants  him  liberty,  he  may  keep  his 
clerical  rank ;  but  if  the  master  asserts  his  right  and  carries  him 
away,  though  the  slave  does  not  lose  his  character  of  order,  he 
loses  his  rank,  and  cannot  officiate.  Should  masters  give  servants 
freedom  that  they  may  be  capable  of  ordination,  it  shall  be  in  the 
master's  discretion  to  give  or  to  withhold  the  property  necessary 
to  enable  the  person  to  get  orders. 

The  archbishops  are  to  have  in  each  province  the  emperor's  au 
thority  in  the  original,  to  authorize  their  ordaining  the  servants  of 
the  church,  and  the  suffragan  bishops  are  to  have  copies  of  this 
original,  and  when  such  servant  is  to  be  ordained,  this  authority 
must  be  read  for  the  people  from  the  pulpit  or  at  the  corner  of  the 
altar.  The  like  form  was  to  be  observed  when  any  of  the  laity 
desired  to  have  any  servant  of  the  church  promoted  to  orders,  or 
when  the  like  promotion*  was  petitioned  for  by  the  prior  of  a  chap 
ter  or  of  a  monastery.  Lotharius,  the  emperor,  published  a 
capitulary  in  Rome,  in  842. 

In  the  third  chapter  of  the  first  part,  we  find  the  following  ex 
pression  : 

In  electione  autem  Romani  pontificis  nullus,  sive  liber  sive  servus, 
prgesumat  aliquod  impedimentum  facere. 

"  Let  no  one,  whether  freeman  or  slave,  presume  to  create  any 
impediment  in  the  election  of  the  Roman  pontiff." 

Which  leads  us  to  suspect  that  some  slaves  possessed  considerable 
power  or  influence. 

In  the  second  chapter,  fines  are  imposed  for  creating  riots  in 

23 


354  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

any  church.  And  the  chapter  concludes  in  the  following 
words : 

Et  qui  non  habet  unde  ad  ecclesiam  persolvat,  tradat  se  in  ser- 
vitio  eidem  ecclesise,  usque  dum  totum  debitum  persolvat. 

."  And  let  him  who  has  not  the  means  of  paying  the  church, 
give  himself  in  servitude  to  that  same  church  until  he  pays  the 
whole  debt." 

By  the  tenth  chapter  he  restrained  the  power  of  manumission. 

Quod  per  xxx  annos  servus  liber  fieri  non  possit,  si  pater  illius 
servus,  aut  mater  ancilla  fuit.  Similiter  de  Aldionibus  praecipimus. 

"  That  a  slave  whose  father  or  whose  mother  was  a  slave  cannot 
become  free  before  thirty  years  of  age.  We  order  that  the  same 
shall  be  the  case  respecting  Aldions." 

In  the  twelfth  he  states  that  these  are  but  a  continuance  of  the 
laws  of  his  grandfather  Charles  and  of  his  father  Louis.  And  in 
tit.  i.  12  of  Ulpian,  reference  is  made  to  a  variety  of  enactments 
of  the  ancient  Roman  law,  that  a  slave  manumitted  under  the  age 
of  thirty  could  not  be  a  Roman  citizen  except  by  a  special  grant 
of  a  court. 

The  thirteenth  declares  that  free  women  who  unite  with  their 
own  slaves  are  in  the  royal  power,  and  are  given  up,  together  with 
their  children,  to  slavery  among  the  Lombards. 

The  fourteenth  enacts  that  a  free  woman  who  shall  unite  her 
self  to  the  male  slave  of  another,  and  remain  so  for  a  year  and  a 
day,  shall,  together  with  her  children,  become  enslaved  to  her  hus 
band's  owner. 

The  fifteenth  regulates  that  if  the  free  husband  of  a  free  woman 
shall,  for  crime  or  debt,  bring  himself  into  servitude  to  another, 
and  she  not  consent  to  remain  with  him,  the  children  are  free ;  but 
if  she  die,  and  another  free  woman,  knowing  lys  condition,  marries 
him,  the  children  of  this  latter  shall  be  slaves. 

A  number  of  chapters  are  also  on  these  records  showing  the  in 
sufficiency  of  servile  testimony.  Others  provide  against  the  op 
pression  of  poor  freemen,  so  that  they  shall  not  be  easily  com 
pelled  to  sell  themselves  into  slavery. 

About  the  year  860,  Pope  Nicholas  I.  sent  to  the  newly  con 
verted  Christians  of  Bulgaria  answers  to  several  inquiries  which 
they  made  for  the  regulation  of  their  conduct.  The  ninety-seventh 
regards  slaves  who  accuse  their  masters  to  the  prince  or  to  the 
court :  and  the  pope  refers  them  to  the  obligation  of  the  master 
as  given  in  chapter  vi.  of  the  epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Ephesians, 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  35.5 

(not  to  use  threatenings  towards  their  servants,)  and  then  asks,  how 
much  more  strongly  does  the  spirit  of  this  maxim  of  kindness  and 
affection  bear  upon  the  servant,  and  teach  him  to  be  of  an  humble 
and  forgiving  disposition,  such  as  that  chapter  enjoins ;  referring 
also  to  the  direction  of  our  Saviour,  Luke  vi.  37,  and  the  injunc 
tion  of  the  apostle,  1  Thess.  v.  15,  for  their  direction. 

At  this  period  of  time,  the  piratical  wars  of  the  Northmen, 
who  were  perpetually  making  inroads  on  the  rest  of  Europe,  kept 
the  whole  of  Christendom  in  commotion,  and  marked  perhaps  the 
darkest  period  of  the  dark  ages. 


LESSON  XVIII. 

UNCONNECTED    FACTS. 

IN  1030,  Peter,  bishop  of  Girona,  in  Spain,  came  to  Rome, 
and  begged  leave  of  the  pope  (John  XIX.)  to  wear  the  pall  twelve 
days  in  the  year,  promising  to  redeem  thirty  slaves  then  in  capti 
vity  among  the  Saracens,  provided  his  holiness  granted  him  this 
request.  It  was  readily  granted.  See  Bower,  vol.  v.  p.  153. 

Shortly  after  the  30th  October,  1051,  Pope  Leo  IX.,  having 
visited  Vercelli  and  Augsburg,  returned  to  Rome,  and  held  a 
council  soon  after  Easter,  in  which  he  excommunicated  Gregory, 
bishop  of  Vercelli,  for  committing  adultery  with  a  widow  betrothed 
to  his  uncle.  The  bishop  was  absent  when  this  sentence  was 
given,  but  he  flew  to  Rome  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  it ;  and  upon 
his  promising  to  perform  the  penance  that  his  holiness  imposed 
upon  him,  he  was  absolved  from  the  excommunication,  and  restored 
to  the  functions  of  his  office.  On  that  occasion  the  canons  issued 
by  other  councils  against  the  incontinence  of  the  clergy  were  con 
firmed,  and  "  some  new  ones  were  added,  and,  in  order  to  check 
more  effectually  the  scandalous  irregularity  of  the  Roman  clergy 
in  particular,  it  was  decreed,  at  the  request  of  the  pope,  that  all 
women  who  should  for  the  future  prostitute  themselves  to  the 
priests  within  the  walls  of  Rome  should  be  condemned  to  serve  as 
slaves  in  the  Lateran  palace."  See  Herman,  ad  an.  1051 ;  also 
Bower,  idem,  p.  183. 

By  one  of  Constantino's  laws,  they  who  ravished  virgins  or  stole 
them,  even  with  their  consent,  against  the  will  of  their  parents, 


356  STUDIES    ON    SLAVEKY. 

(with  the  view  to  make  slaves  of  them  or  not,)  were  burned  alive. 
Cod.  Theodos.  1.  ix.  tit.  29,  leg.  1.  The  severity  of  this  law  was 
somewhat  mitigated  by  Constantius,  but  he  still  made  it  a  capital 
offence.  Ibid.  leg.  2.  It  was  upon  this  law,  Pope  Hadrian  II. 
applied  to  the  emperor  for  redress  against  Eleutherius,  who  had 
carried  off  his  daughter  Stephania  by  force,  and  married  her, 
although  she  was  betrothed  to  another.  See  Bower,  idem,  p.  11. 
We  have  a  remarkable  letter,  written  by  Gregory  VII.,  in  January, 
1080,  in  answer  to  one  he  had  received  from  Vratislaus,  duke  of 
Bohemia,  desiring  leave  to  have  Divine  service  performed  in  the 
Sclavonian  tongue,  that  is,  in  the  language  of  the  country.  That 
letter  the  pope  answered  in  the  following  words  : 

uAs  you  desire  us  to  allow  Divine  service  to  be  performed 
among  you  in  the  Sclavonian  tongue,  know  that  by  no  means  can 
I  grant  your  request,  it  being  manifest  to  all,  who  will  but  reflect, 
that  it  has  pleased  the  Almighty  that  the  Scripture  should  bo 
withheld  from  some,  and  not  understood  by  all,  lest  it  should  fall 
into  contempt,  or  lead  the  unlearned  into  error.  And  it  must  not 
be  alleged  that  all  were  allowed,  in  the  primitive  times,  to  read  the 
Scriptures,  it  being  well  known  that  in  those  early  times  the 
church  connived  at  many  things,  which  the  holy  fathers  disap 
proved  and  corrected  when  the  Christian  religion  was  firmly 
established.  He  cannot  therefore  grant,  but  absolutely  forbid, 
by  the  authority  of  Almighty  God  and  his  blessed  apostle  Peter, 
what  you  ask,  and  command  you  to  oppose  to  the  utmost  of  your 
power  all  who  require  it."  Greg.  1.  vii.  ep.  ii. ;  also  Bower,  ic 

?'  On  'the  subject  of  the  above  letter,  it  should  be  remembered 
none  spoke   the    Sclavonic  at  that   day  except  the   Sclavonians 
themselves;    that   the   great  mass    of  that   people  were    slaves, 
either  to  some  few  individuals  of  their  own  nation,  or  to  the  other 
European  nations,  by  whom  they  had  been  captured,  or  to  whom 
they  had  been  sold.     They  were  a  nation  of  slaves,  and  hence  t 
Romans  called  their  language  Servian,  hon  servus,  a  slave, 
is  still  extant  among  the  ancient  German  archives  some  account 
of  the  physical  and  moral  appearance  of  this  people,  representing 
them  as   robust,   filthy,   faithless,   and  extremely  wicked.     Ihey 
called  themselves  sclava  or  sclavas,  &c.,  which  word,  in  their 
gua^e,  implied  an  elevated  distinction,  and  was  in  common  use  as 
a  suffix  to  individual  names,  indicating  that  the  person  was  highly 
elevated  among  his  countrymen,  as  in  this  case,  Vrati-Slaus- 


STUDIES    OX    SLAVERY.  357 

eating  the  fact  that  Vrati  was  famous,  elevated,  a  man  of  high 
and  honourable  distinction.  Such  men  often  held  immense  num 
bers  of  their  less  elevated  countrymen  in  bondage.  From  the 
form  and  meaning  of  this  suffix,  some  modern  scholars  have  erro 
neously  supposed  it  to  have  come  from  the  Latin,  laus.  We  may 
form  some  idea  of  the  feelings  of  Pope  Gregory  VII.,  upon  this 
application,  by  imagining  what  would  have  been  the  feelings  of  a 
Virginia  legislature,  fifty  years  ago,  had  some  free  African,  then 
there,  petitioned  to  have  the  laws  published  in  Eboe,  for  the  bene 
fit  of  the  slaves.  In  the  above  letter,  the  meaning  of  the  assertion, 
"  in  those  early  times  the  church  connived  at  many  things  which 
the  holy  fathers  disapproved,"  &c.,  at  this  late  day  is  very  liaJble 
to  be  misconceived.  He  does  not  allude  to  any  thing  said  or  done 
by  Jesus  Christ  or  his  apostles,  but  to  the  action  of  his  predecessors 
in  the  pontificate  on  this  very  subject.  About  the  year  860,  Pope 
Nicholas  I.  granted  this  very  privilege  to  the  Sclavonians  in  Moravia ; 
and  about  ten  years  after,  the  same  was  renewed  by  Hadrian  II. , 
upon  the  request  of  St.  Cyril,  the  apostle  of  the  Moravians.  See  the 
Life  of  Cyril,  (Latin,)  page  22.  And  John  VIII.,  in  the  year  882, 
confirmed  the  same,  at  the  request  of  Sfento  Pulcher,  prince  of  Mo 
ravia,  calling  it  the  license  granted  by  Pope  Nicholas,  "  of  saying  the 
canonical  hours  and  celebrating  mass  in  their  native  language." 

"  The  Sclavonian  language  we  justly  commend"  says  the  pope 
in  his  letter  to  the  prince,  "  and  order  the  praise  and  the  ivorks  of 
Christ  our  Lord  to  be  celebrated  in  that  tongue,  being  directed  by 
Divine  authority  to  praise  the  Lord,  not  in  three  only,  but  in  all 
languages,  agreeably  to  what  we  find  in  holy  writ — '  Praise  ye  the 
Lord,  all  ye  nations,  and  bless  him,  all  ye  people.'  The  apostles 
announced  the  wonderful  works  of  Grod  in  all  languages,"  &c., 
"and  he  who  made  the  three  chief  languages,  the  Hebrew,  the 
G-reek,  and  the  Latin,  created  all  the  rest  for  his  praise  and 
glory"  See  Johan.  ep.  247. 

The  same  privilege  was  granted  by  the  Cf-reek  church  to  the 
Russians,  who  speak  the  Sclavonian  language  ;  and  they  perform, 
to  this  day,  as  well  as  the  Moravians,  Divine  service  in  their  native 
language.  The  pope,  however,  ordered  the  gospel  to  be  first  read 
in  Latin,  and  afterwards,  for  the  sake  of  those  who  understood  not 
that  language,  in  the  Sclavonian.  (See  Bower,  idem,  p.  37.)  It 
is  not  relevant  to  our  subject  to  inquire  what  facts  presented  them 
selves  to  the  mind  of  Gregory  VII.,  whereby  he  apprehended  that 
the  Scripture  might  "fall  into  contempt,"  or  they  "  lead  the  un- 


358  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


learned  into  error."  But  we  have  seen,  in  our  own  day,  a  wide  de 
viation  from  the  instruction  of  St.  Paul,  in  a  version  of  the  New 
Testament  in  Romaic,  or  modern  Greek,  evidently  translated  from 
our  English  version,  instead  of  from  the  ancient  Greek ;  wherein 
Paul  is  made  to  say,  1  Tim.  i.  10,  anthropoJcleptas,  which  indi 
cates  the  stealing  of  a  free  man — instead  of  what  Paul  did  say, 
andrapodistais,  which  indicates  the  stealing  of  a  slave.  It  is  true, 
King  James's  translators  substituted  "  men-stealers"  without  any 
further  allusion  that  the  men  who  were  to  be  the  things  stolen  were 
slaves.  It  does  not  appear  to  have  occurred  to  them  that  a/m? 
man  could  be  stolen,  since  in  no  sense  could  he  be  property.  In 
said  version  are  other  errors  of  equal  magnitude  ;  and  we  have  it 
from  good  authority  that  the  Greek  patriarch,  after  an  examina 
tion  of  said  version,  most  strictly  forbad  his  people  to  read  it,  and, 
also,  to  introduce  it  among  them.  If  such  errors  were  incident  to 
the  Sclavonic,  Gregory  VII.  had  at  least  some  ground  for  his  ap 
prehensions.  But  the  Sclavonians  were  of  the  same  colour  and 
physical  formation  of  the  northern  tribes  to  whom  they  were  in 
bondage.  There  was  no  physical  or  moral  degradation  consequent 
to  an  amalgamation  with  them  ;  and  such  connection  did  happen 
to  a  very  great  extent,  and  at  this  day  has  very  nearly  extin 
guished  all  caste  between  them.  But  in  the  days  of  Gregory  VIL, 
and  long  since,  the  politer  nations  of  the  south  of  Europe  regarded 
those  of  the  north,  whether  free  or  in  servitude,  as  but  a  mere 
grade,  if  at  all,  above  barbarians ;  and  this  pope  seems  to  have  been 
disposed  to  have  fed  them  with  "  milk,"  and  not  with  "  strong  meat." 
Heb.  v.  12.  We  may  perceive  how  the  south  estimated  the  north  at 
those  early  times,  by  an  incident  related  by  D'Aubigne,  vol.  i.  p.  96. 
Reuchlin,  a  native  of  Pforzheim,  had  made  himself  a  distinguished 
scholar  for  any  age.  In  1498,  he  found  his  way  to  Rome,  when 
Argyropylos,  a  celebrated  Greek  professor,  was  lecturing  on  the 
elevated  standing  in  literature  to  which  the  Greeks  had  formerly 
arrived,  &c.  Reuchlin,  highly  delighted  with  the  lecture,  visited 
the  professor,  and  addressed  him  in  Greek.  Argyropylos,  perceiv 
ing  him  to  be  a  German,  says,  "Whence  come  you,  and  do  you 
understand  Greek?"  Reuchlin  replies,  "I  arn  a  German,  and 
am  not  quite  ignorant  of  your  language."  He  took  up  Thucydides 
and  read  ;  when  Argyropylos  said,  in  grief,  tears,  and  astonish 
ment,  "  Alas,  alas,  Greece  cast  out  and  fugitive,  is  gone  to  hide 
herself  beyond  the  Alps !"  But  the  funeral  fire  of  Greece  and 
Rome  illumed  the  extreme  north,  and  by  its  light  the  savage  free- 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  359 

man  and  his  more  savage  slave  were  taught  their  religion,  civiliza 
tion,  and  science.  "  It  was  thus,"  says  D'Aubigne,  "  that  the  sons 
of  barbarous  Germany  and  those  of  ancient  Greece  met  together 
in  the  palaces  of  Rome ;  thus  it  was  that  the  east  and  the  west 
gave  each  other  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  in  this  rendezvous  of 
the  world,  and  that  the  former  poured  into  the  hands  of  the  latter 
those  intellectual  treasures  which  it  had  carried  off  in  its  escape 
from  the  barbarism  of  the  Turks.  God,  when  his  plans  require  it, 
brings  together  in  an  instant,  by  somfc  unlooked-for  catastrophe, 
those  who  seemed  for  ever  removed  from  each  other."  This  im 
proved  condition  of  the  northern  nations  was  foreseen,  perhaps 
already  felt,  by  Innocent  IV.,  in  1254,  when  he  permitted  Divine 
service  to  be  performed  in  the  Sclavonic  language,  which  is  noticed 
by  Bower,  vol.  vi.  p.  254.  At  the  close  of  his  remarks  on  Pope 
Innocent  IV.,  he  says — "We  have  a  great  number  of  letters 
written  by  this  pope  on  different  occasions,  and  a  decree  allowing 
the  Sclavonians  to  perform  Divine  service  in  their  mother  tongue, 
contrary  to  a  decree  of  Gregory  VII."  We  beg  to  notice  Pope 
Gregory  IX. ;  for,  "  by  this  pope  was  confirmed  the  religious 
order  of  St.  Mary  de  Mercede,  as  it  is  called,  an  order  instituted 
to  make  gatherings  all  over  the  Christian  world  for  the  redemption 
of  Christians  taken  and  kept  in  slavery  by  the  infidels."  Bower, 
idem,  p.  236.  This  order  was  instituted  by  James,  king  of  Arra- 
gon,  about  the  year  1223,  and  was  confirmed  by  Gregory  on  the 
17th  of  January,  1230.  The  general  of  this  order  resides  con 
stantly  at  Barcelona,  where  it  was  instituted  by  the  king  of  Arra- 
gon,  under  the  direction  of  Raimund  de  Pennefort,  then  canon 
of  that  city.  See  Oldoinus  in  notis  ad  Oiacon.  Bullarium  in  G-reg. 
IX.  constit.  9.  About  the  year  1312,  charges  of  the  most  wicked 
and  gross  nature  were  had  against  the  Knights  Templars.  Their 
chief  persecutor  was  King  Philip,  who  suspected  them  to  have  en 
couraged  an  insurrection  during  his  war  in  Flanders.  Through 
his  influence  the  whole  order  were  arrested,  not  only  in  France, 
but  in  all  Christendom.  Pope  Clement  V.  took  charge  of  their 
prosecution.  But  it  appearing  that  thousands  of  them  had  and 
were  ready  to  defend  the  Christian  religion  at  the  expense  of  their 
lives,  and  that  many  of  their  order  were  then  in  slavery  among 
the  Saracens,  from  which  they  might  redeem  themselves  by  repu 
diating  Jesus  Christ  and  his  religion,  yet  they  preferred  rather 
to  live  and  die  in  chains  than  to  purchase  freedom  at  so  high  a 
Drice,  their  judges  considered  these  facts  to  overbalance  the 


360  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

evidence  against  them.  But  through  Philip's  influence  the  order 
was  suppressed.  See  Bower,  vol.  vi.  p.  39.  By  the  laws  of  Moses, 
when  the  Hebrews  found  it  necessary  to  make  war  and  subdue 
their  enemies  in  battle,  they  were  directed  to  put  all  the  men  to 
death,  and  to  make  slaves  of  the  women  and  children.  See  Deute 
ronomy  xx.  13,  14.  The  milder  treatment  of  the  women  and 
children  was  in  mercy,  predicated  on  the  presumption  of  their 
being  more  tractable  and  less  unalterably  sunk  in  sin.  We 
perceive  the  same  state  of  facts  when  the  Lord  commanded  the 
Hebrews  to  put  the  Canaanites  to  death.  "  Thou  shalt  smite  them, 
and  utterly  destroy  them ;  thou  shalt  make  no-  covenant  with  them, 
nor  show  mercy  to  them :  neither  shalt  thou  make  marriages  with 
them,"  &c.  Deut.  vii.  2,  3.  Whereas  the  adjoining  and  kindred 
tribes  were  only  devoted  to  slavery.  "  Both  thy  bond-men  and 
thy  bond-maids  which  thou  shalt  have,  shall  be  of  the  heathen  that 
are  round  about  you :  of  them  shall  ye  buy  bond-men  and  bond 
maids."  Lev.  xxv.  44.  It  is,  and  ever  has  been,  the  universal  rule 
to  destroy  from  the  earth,  whenever  sin  has  sunk  its  votary  so 
low  in  the  depths  of  crime  that  there  is  no  longer  even  hope  of 
reform.  Whereas,  for  a  less  degree  of  depravity,  mercy  intercedes 
for  the  reformation  of  the  victim,  by  placing  him  someway  in 
surveillance,  either  for  life  or  for  a  term  of  years.  On  the  same 
principle  is  founded  the  distinction  of  punishment  between  homi 
cide  attended  with  premeditated  malice,  and  that  which  is  not  so 
attended. 

"  Behold,  these  three  years  I  come  seeking  fruit  on  this  fig-tree, 
and  find  none  :  cut  it  down ;  why  cumbereth  it  the  ground  ?  And 
he  answering,  said  unto  him,  Lord,  let  it  alone  this  year  also,  till 
I  may  dig  about  it,  and  dung  it :  and  if  it  bear  fruit,  well ;  and  if 
not,  then  after  that  thou  shalt  cut  it  down."  Luke  xiii.  7. 


STUDIES  ON  SLAVERY.  361 


LESSON  XIX. 

OUR  English  word  war  is  of  Saxon  origin,  (Sax.  waer,}  and  from 
whence  has  also  been  derived  many  of  the  corresponding  terms  in 
the  present  European  languages.  Its  primary  sense  implies  the 
action  of  a  competent  power  in  accomplishing  something.  But, 
like  many  other  words,  its  use  has  degenerated  into  various  shades 
of  meaning.  The  corresponding  Greek  term,  palemos,  from  pallo, 
or  its  cognate,  hallo,  seems  originally  to  have  been  illustrative  of 
offensive  and  coercive  action,  and  hence  implies  all  the  agitative 
and  repulsive  movement  illustrated  by  our  present  word  battle : 
whereas  the  Hebrew  term,  laham,  cognate  with  Ham,  on  whose  de 
scendants  the  curse  of  slavery  was  pronounced  by  Noah,  involves 
the  idea  of  destruction,  as  a  thing  burned,  consumed,  devoured,  and 
destroyed  ;  hence  the  Hebrews  would  say,  the  sword  devoured,  that 
is,  eats  up,  &c.  ;  yet  their  term  gerav,  or  kerab,  boldly  implied  offen 
sive  and  opposing  force ;  hence,  to  advance  upon,  or,  to  approach 
unto,  in  which  sense  it  was  often  used,  as  well  as  to  imply  conflict 
and  war.  We  wish  to  illustrate  the  fact  that,  when  the  mind  of  a 
Hebrew  was  in  exercise  with  £he  complex  idea  which  we  express 
by  the  term  war,  the  conception  embraced  a  larger  portion  of  the 
simple  elements  which  enter  into  the  complex  ideas  of  destruction, 
annihilation,  and  death,  than  is  now  found  associated  in  the  mind 
of  the  more  highly  cultivated  descendants  of  the  Caucasian  races. 
In  the  idea  war,  with  him,  the  leading  sentiment  was  the  extinc 
tion  of  those  against  whom  the  ivar  was  waged.  Their  doctrine, 
that  God  governed  the  world ;  that  the  Hebrews  were  his  chosen 
people  ;  that  no  war  was  justifiable  unless  authorized  by  Jehovah ; 
that  the  object  of  war  was  to  destroy  from  the  earth  those  who 
were  too  wicked  to  live,  or  to  place  in  subjection  and  servitude, 
those  who  manifested  a  less  degree  of  stubbornness,  but  whose  sins 
made  them  a  nauseant,  a  nuisance,  in  the  world  ;  that  God  always 
governed  a  war  in  such  a  manner  as  rendered  it  a  punishment  for 
sins.  Hence  the  law  of  Deut.  xx.  13,  14,  before  quoted.  Hence 
the  wars  of  the  Israelites  are  named  as  "the  wars  of  the  Lord," 
Numb.  xxi.  14.  Hence,  we  find  in  Ex.  xvii.  16,  "  The  Lord  hath 
tiworn  that  the  Lord  will  have  war  with  Amalek  from  generation  to 


362  STUDIES    ON    SLAVER!. 

generation,"  arid  in  the  preceding  verse,  that  "  Moses  built  an 
altar  and  called  it  Jehovah-nissi."  The  word  nissi  means  the  flag, 
standard,  or  banner  of  an  army,  indicating  the  centre  of  command, 
or  the  location  and  movement  of  the  commander,  and  is  sometimes 
used  in  the  sense  of  example,  or  model  of  action,  and  by  figure  is 
also  used  to  mean  the  commander  or  leader  himself.  And  Joshua 
said  unto  them,  "Fear  not  nor  be  dismayed,  be  strong  and  of  good 
courage :  for  thus  shall  the  Lord  do  to  all  your  enemies  whom  ye 
fight."  Josh.  x.  25.  "He  teacheth  my  hands  to  war,  so  that  a 
bow  of  steel  is  broken  by  mine  arms."  2  Sam.  xxii.  35.  Also  the 
same,  Ps.  xviii.  34.  "With  good  advice  make  war."  Prov.  xxiv.  G. 
Ps.  xviii.  37 :  "  I  have  pursued  mine  enemies  and  overtaken  them  ; 
neither  did  I  turn  again  until  they  were  consumed."  38.  "  I  have 
wounded  them  that  they  were  not  able  to  rise.  They  are  fallen 
under  my  feet."  39.  "For  thou  hast  girded  me  with  strength 
unto  the  battle.  Thou  hast  subdued  under  me  those  that  rose  up 
against  me."  40.  "Thou  hast  also  given  me  the  necks  of  mine 
enemies;  that  I  might  destroy  them  that  hate  me."  41.  "They 
cried,  but  there  was  none  to  save  them :  even  unto  the  Lord,  but  he 
answered  them  not."  42.  "  Then  did  I  beat  them  small  as  the 
dust  before  the  wind  :  I  did  cast  them  out  as  the  dirt  in  the  streets." 
43.  "  Thou  hast  delivered  me  from  the  strivings  of  the  people  :  and 
thou  hast  made  me  the  head  of  the  heathen :  a  people  whom  I  have 
not  known  shall  serve  me,"  (abedini,  shall  be  slaves  to  me.)  44.  "As 
soon  as  they  shall  hear  of  me,  they  shall  obey  me  :  the  strangers 
shall  submit  themselves  unto  me." 

"  0  God  the  Lord,  the  strength  of  my  salvation,  thou  hast 
covered  my  head  in  the  day  of  battle."  cxiv.  7. 

"  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  my  strength,  which  teacheth  my 
hands  to  war  and  my  fingers  to  fight."  cxliv.  1. 

So  the  prophets  :  "  A  noise  shall  come  even  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  for  the  Lord  hath  a  controversy  with  the  nations ;  he  will 
plead  with  all  flesh :  he  will  give  them  that  are  wicked  to  the 
sword."  Jer.  xxv.  31. 

"  And  I  will  smite  thy  bow  out  of  thy  left  hand,  and  will  cause 
thy  arrows  to  fall  out  of  thy  right  hand. 

"  Thou  shalt  fall  upon  the  mountains  of  Israel,  thou,  and  all  thy 
bands,  and  the  people  that  is  with  thee  :  I  will  give  thee  unto 
the  ravenous  birds  of  every  sort,  and  unto  the  beasts  of  the  field, 
to  be  devoured.  Thou  shalt  fall  upon  the  open  field :  for  I  have 
spoken  it,  saith  the  Lord  God."  Ezek.  xxxix.  3-5. 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  363 

"At  the  same  time  spake  the  Lord  by  Isaiah  the  son  of  Amos, 
saying,  Go,  and  loose  {he  sackcloth  from  off  thy  loins,  and  put 
off  thy  shoe  from  thy  foot :  and  he  did  so,  walking  naked  and 
barefoot. 

"And  the  Lord  said,  Like  as  my  servant  Isaiah  hath  walked  naked 
and  barefoot  three  years  for  a  sign  and  wonder  upon  Egypt  and 
upon  Ethiopia ; 

"  So  shall  the  king  of  Assyria  lead  away  the  Egyptians  prisoners, 
and  the  Ethiopians  captives,  young  and  old,  naked  and  barefoot, 
even  with  their  buttocks  uncovered,  to  the  shame  of  Egypt." 
Isa.  xx.  2,  3,  4. 

And  again,  "  The  word  of  the  Lord  came  again  unto  me,  saying, 
Son  of  man,  prophesy  and  say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God ;  Howl 
ye,  Wo  worth  the  day ! 

"  For  the  day  is  near,  even  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  near,  a  cloudy 
day :  it  shall  be  the  time  of  the  heathen. 

"  And  the  sword  shall  come  upon  Egypt,  and  great  pain  shall  be 
in  Ethiopia,  when  the  slain  shall  fall  in  Egypt,  and  they  shall  take 
away  her  multitude,  and  her  foundations  shall  be  broken  down. 

"Ethiopia  (Cush)  and  Libya  (Put)  and  Lydia  (Ludim)  and  all  the 
mingled  (ereb,  mixed-blooded)  people,  and  Chub,  (the  Arabians  read 
Nub,  Nubia,)  and  the  men  of  the  land  that  is  in  league,  shall  fall 
with  them  by  the  sword. 

"  Thus  saith  the  Lord  :  They  also  that  behold  Egypt  (Mitsraim) 
shall  fall ;  and  the  pride  of  her  power  shall  come  down  :  from  the 
tower  of  Syene  shall  they  fall  in  it  by  the  sword,  saith  the  Lord 
God. 

"  And  they  shall  be  desolate  in  the  midst  of  the  countries  that 
are  desolate,  and  her  cities  shall  be  in  the  midst  of  the  cities  that 
are  wasted. 

"  And  they  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord,  when  I  have  set  a  fire 
in  Egypt,  (Mitsraim,)  and  when  all  her  helpers  shall  be  destroyed. 

"In  that  day  shall  messengers  go  forth  from  me  in  ships  to  make 
the  careless  (betahh,  confident  of  ones  own  security,  thoughtless, 
unconcerned,  trusting  in  themselves)  Ethiopians  afraid,  and  great 
pain  shall  come  upon  them :  as  in  the  day  of  Egypt,  (Mitsraim :)  for 
lo  it  cometh ! 

"  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God,  I  will  make  the  multitude  of  Egypt  to 
cease  by  the  hand  of  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon. 

"  He  and  his  people  with  him,  the  terrible  of  the  nations,  shall  be 


364  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

brought  to  destroy  the  land :  and  they  shall  draw  their  swords 
against  Egypt,  and  fill  the  land  with  the  slain. 

"  And  I  will  make  the  rivers  dry,  and  sell  the  land  into  the  hand 
of  the  wicked  :  and  I  will  make  the  land  waste,  and  all  that  is 
therein,  by  the  hand  of  strangers.  I  the  Lord  have  spoken  it. 

"  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  :  I  will  also  destroy  the  idols,  and  I 
will  cause  their  images  to  cease  out  of  Noph  :  and  there  shall  be 
no  more  a  prince  of  the  land  of  Egypt :  and  I  will  put  a  fear  in 
the  land  of  Egypt. 

"  And  I  will  make  Pathros  (a  Coptic  word  signifying  south  land, 
<j"c.)  desolate,  and  will  set  a  fire  in  Zoan,  (both  Isoan  and  Isaan  ;  it 
means  a  wanderer,  &c.  and  was  the  name  of  a  city  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Nile,)  and  will  execute  judgments  in  No. 

"  And  I  will  pour  my  fury  on  Sin,  the  strength  of  Egypt ;  and  I 
will  cut  off  the  multitude  of  No. 

"  And  I  will  set  fire  in  Egypt :  Sin  shall  have  great  pain,  and  No 
shall  be  rent  asunder,  and  Noph  shall  have  distresses  daily. 

"  The  young  men  of  Aven  and  Pi-beseth  shall  fall  by  the  sword  : 
and  these  cities  shall  go  into  captivity. 

"  At  Tehaphnehes  also  the  day  shall  be  darkened,  when  I  shall 
break  there  the  yokes  of  Egypt :  and  the  pomp  of  her  strength 
shall  cease  in  her :  a  cloud  shall  cover  her,  and  her  daughters  shall 
go  into  captivity.  Thus  will  I  execute  judgments  in  Egypt, 
(Mithraim,  the  same  as  Misraim,  the  son  of  Ham :}  and  they  shall 
know  that  I  am  the  Lord."  Ezek.  xxx.  1-19. 

And  so  Zeph.  ii.  12:  "Ye  Ethiopians  also,  ye  shall  be  slain 
by  my  sword."  We  shall  take  occasion  to  notice  this  passage 
elsewhere.  And  Joel  iii.  8:  "And  I  will  sell  your  sons  and  your 
daughters  into  the  hand  of  the  children  of  Judah,  and  they  shall 
sell  them  to  the  Sabeans,  to  a  people  far  off:  for  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  it."  Zephaniah  iii.  8-10  may  be  said  to  develop  the  ulti 
mate  providence  of  God  touching  this  matter : 

"  Therefore,  wait  ye  upon  me,  saith  the  Lord,  until  the  day  that 
I  rise  up  to  the  prey  :  for  my  determination  is  to  gather  the  nations, 
that  I  may  assemble  the  kingdoms,  to  pour  upon  them  mine  indig 
nation,  even  all  my  fierce  anger :  for  all  the  earth  shall  be  de 
voured  with  the  fire  of  my  jealousy. 

"For  then  I  will  turn  to  the  people  a  pure  language,  that  they 
may  all  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,  to  serve  him  with  one 
consent. 

"  From  beyond  the  rivers  of  Ethiopia,  my  suppliants,  even  tho 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  365 


daughter  of  my  dispersed  (Putsi,  the  daughters  of  Put;  the  word 
means  dispersed,  because  they  were  scattered  and  lost  as  to  name) 
shall  bring  mine  offering."  They  were  evidently  the  most  dete 
riorated  of  all  the  descendants  of  Ham. 

When  a  people  or  nation  give  evidence  that  they  are  insensible 
to  all  rules  of  right,  either  divine  or  human,  it  necessarily  follows 
that  their  hand  will  be  found  against  every  man,  and  every  man's 
hand  against  them.  The  subjugation  of  such  a  people,  so  regard 
less  of  all  law,  can  only  end  in  their  being  put  to  death,  or,  in  the 
more  merciful  provision  of  the  divine  law,  by  reducing  them  to  a 
state  of  absolute  slavery. 

The  experience  of  mankind  proves  that  such  heathen,  so  re 
duced  to  a  state  of  bondage,  have  always  given  evidence  that 
their  moral  and  even  physical  condition  has  been  ameliorated  by 
it,  and  in  proportion  to  the  scrupulous  particularity  by  which 
they  to  whom  they  were  enslaved  successfully  compelled  and 
forced  them  to  walk  in  the  paths  of  rectitude. 

Ever  since  the  world  has  been  peopled  by  nations,  none  have 
ever  hesitated  to  make  war  a  protection  to  themselves  against 
those  who  thus  had  become  a  nuisance  in  it.  To  such  men,  either 
individually  or  collectively,  reason,  justice,  law  are  without  effect 
or  influence  :  nothing  short  of  absolute  compulsive  force  can  avail 
them  beneficially.  And,  indeed,  it  is  upon  this  principle  that 
civilized  communities  do  essentially,  in  their  prisons  and  by  other 
mode  of  restraint,  enslave,  for  life  or  a  term  of  years,  those  who 
have  proved  themselves  too  reckless  to  be  otherwise  continued 
among  them. 

In  the  year  1437,  the  Christian  right  or  duty  of  declaring,  or 
rather  of  making  war  against  infidels,  was  proposed  to  the  church 
for  the  pope's  decision  and  counsel.  Duarte,  king  of  Portugal, 
was  importuned  by  his  brother  Ferdinand,  to  make  war  on  the 
Moors  with  a  view  to  the  conquest  of  Tangier.  Duarte  entertained 
scruples  about  his  moral  and  Christian  right  to  do  so ;  and  there 
fore  proposed  the  subject  to  the  theologians  and  to  the  pope. 
Eugenius  IV.,  who  then  filled  the  papal  chair,  decided  that  there 
were  but  two  cases  in  which  an  offensive  war  could  be  justifiably 
undertaken  against  unbelievers,  &c. :  1st.  "  When  they  were  in 
possession  of  territory  which  had  belonged  to  Christians,  and 
which  the  latter  sought  to  recover.  2d.  When,  by  piracy  or  war, 
or  any  other  means,  they  injured  or  insulted  the  true  believers." 
In  all  other  cases,  proceeded  his  holiness,  hostilities  are  unjust. 


366  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY 


The  elements,  earth,  air,  fire,  and  water,  were  created  for  all ;  and 
to  deprive  any  creature,  without  just  cause,  of  these  necessary 
things,  was  a  violation  of  natural  right.  See  Lardner,  Hist.  Portu 
gal,  vol.  iii.  p.  204.  We  proceed  to  instances  wherein  the  records 
show  the  church  to  have  declared  offensive  war. 

In  1375,  "  the  Florentines,  entering  into  an  alliance  with  the 
Visconti  of  Milan,  broke  unexpectedly  into  the  territory  of  the 
Church,  made  themselves  masters  of  several  cities,  demolished  the 
strongholds,  drove  everywhere  out  the  officers  of  the  pope,  and 
setting  up  a  standard,  with  the  word  'Libertas'  in  capital  letters,  en 
couraged  the  people  to  shake  off  the  yoke  and  resume  their  liberty : 
at  their  instigation,  Bologna,  Perugia,  and  most  of  the  chief  cities 
in  the  pope's  dominions  openly  revolted,  and,  joining  the  Floren 
tines,  either  imprisoned,  or  barbarously  murdered  those  whom  the 
pope  had  set  over  them.  Gregory  (XL)  was  no  sooner  in 
formed  of  that  general  revolt,  and  the  unheard  of  barbarities 
committed  by  the  Florentines,  and  those  who  had  joined  them, 
than  he  wrote  to  the  people  and  magistrates  of  Florence,  ex 
horting  them  to  withdraw  their  troops  forthwith  out  of  the  do 
minions  of  the  Church,  to  forbear  all  further  hostilities,  to  satisfy 
those  whom  they  had  injured,  and  revoke  the  many  decrees  they 
had  issued  absolutely  inconsistent  with  the  ecclesiastical  immunity 
as  established  by  the  canons.  As  they  paid  no  rqgard  to  the  pope's 
exhortations,  he  summoned  the  magistrates  to  appear  in  person, 
and  .the  people  by  their  representatives,  at  the  tribunal  of  the 
apostolic  see,  by  the  last  day  of  March,  1376,  to  answer  for  their 
conduct.  The  Florentines,  far  from  complying  with  that  summons, 
insulted  the  pope's  messengers  in  the  grossest  manner,  and,  con 
tinuing  their  hostilities,  laid  waste  the  greater  part  of  the  patri 
mony,  destroying  all  -before  them  with  fire  and  sword. 

"Gregory,  therefore,  provoked  beyond  all  measure,  issued  the 
most  terrible  bull  against  them  that  had  ever  yet  been  issued  by 
any  pope.  For,  by  that  bull,  the  magistrates  were  all  excommu 
nicated  ;  the  whole  people  and  every  place  and  person  under  their 
jurisdiction  were  laid  under  an  interdict.  All  traffic,  commerce, 
and  intercourse  with  any  of  that  state,  in  any  place  whatever, 
were  forbidden  on  pain  of  excommunication.  Their  subjects  were 
absolved  from  their  allegiance ;  all  their  rights,  privileges,  and  im 
munities  were  declared  forfeited ;  their  estates,  real  and  personal, 
in  what  part  soever  of  the  world,  were  given  away,  and  declared 
to  be  the  property  of  the  first  who  should  seize  them,  pHma  occu- 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

pantis ;  all  were  allowed,  and  even  exhorted  and  encouraged,  to 
seize  their  persons,  wherever  found,  as  well  as  their  estates,  and 
reduce  them  to  slavery.  Their  magistrates  were  declared  intest- 
able,  and  their  sons  and  grandsons  incapable  of  succeeding  to 
their  paternal  estates,  or  to  any  inheritance  whatever;  their 
descendants,  to  the  third  generation,  were  excluded  from  all 
honours,  dignities,  and  preferments,  both  civil  and  ecclesiastic. 
All  princes,  prelates,  governors  of  cities,  and  magistrates  were  for 
bidden,  on  pain  of  excommunication,  to  harbour  any  Florentine,  or 
suffer  any  in  the  places  under  their  jurisdiction  in  any  other  state 
or  condition  than  that  of  a  slave."  This  bull  is  dated  in  the  palace 
of  Avignon,  in  some  copies  the  30th  of  March,  and  in  some  the  20th 
of  April,  in  the  sixth  year  of  Gregory's  pontificate,  that  is,  in  1376, 
(apud  Raynald.  ad  hunc  ann.  num.  i.  etseq.,  et  Bzovium,  num.  xv.) 
Walsingham  writes,  that  upon  the  publication  of  this  bull  the 
Florentine  traders  who  had  settled  in  England,  delivered  up  all 
their  effects  to  the  king,  and  themselves  with  them,  for  his  slaves. 
One  of  the  authors  of  Gregory's  life  (auctor  primce  vit.  Gregor.) 
tells  us,  that  in  all  other  countries,  especially  at  Avignon,  they 
abandoned  their  effects,  and*returned,  being  no  where  else  safe,  to 
their  own  country.  (See  Bower,  vol.  vii.  p.  23.) 

Again,  in  1508  was  concluded  the  famous  treaty  or  league  of 
Cambray,  against  the  republic  of  Venice  :  that  state  had  been  long 
aspiring  at  the  government  of  all  Italy.  The  contracting  parties 
were  the  pope,  the  emperor,  the  king  of  France,  and  the  king  of 
Spain;  and  it  was  agreed  that  they  should  enter  the  state  of 
Venice  on  all  sides ;  that  each  of  them  should  recover  what  that 
republic  had  taken  from  them  ;  that  they  should  therein  assist  one 
another :  and  that  it  should  not  be  lawful  for  any  of  the  confede 
rates  to  enter  into  an  agreement  with  the  republic  but  by  common 
consent.  The  duke  of  Ferrara,  the  marquis  of  Mantua,  and  who 
ever  else  had  any  claims  upon  the  Venetians,  were  to  be  admitted 
into  this  treaty.  The  Venetians  had  some  suspicion  of  what  was 
contriving  against  them  at  Cambray,  but  they  had  no  certain 
knowledge  of  it,  till  the  pope  informed  them  of  the  whole.  For 
Julius  IL,  (then  pope,)  no  less  apprehensive  of  the  emperor's 
power  in  Italy  than  the  French  king's,  acquainted  the  Venetian 
ambassador  at  Home,  before  he  signed  the  treaty,  with  all  the 
articles  it  contained,  represented  to  him  the  danger  that  his  re 
public  was  threatened  with,  and  offered  not  to  confirm  the  league, 
but  to  start  difficulties  and  raise  obstacles  against  it,  provided 


308  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


they  only  restored  to  him  the  cities  of  Rimini  and  Faenza.  This 
demand  appeared  to  be  very  reasonable  to  the  pope,  but  it  was 
rejected  by  a  great  majority  of  the  senate,  when  communicated  to 
them  by  their  ambassador ;  and  the  pope  thereupon  confirmed  the 
league  by  a  bull,  dated  at  Home,  the  22d  of  March,  1508.  The 
Venetians,  hearing  of  the  mighty  preparations  that  were  carrying 
on  all  over  Christendom  against  them,  began  to  repent  their  not 
having  complied  with  the  pope's  request  and  by  that  means  broken 
the  confederacy.  They  therefore  renewed  their  negotiations  with 
his  holiness,  and  offered  to  restore  to  him  the  city  of  Faenza.  But 
Julius,  instead  of  accepting  their  offer,  published,  by  way  of  moni 
tory,  a  thundering  bull  against  the  republic,  summoning  them  to 
restore,  in  the  term  of  twenty-four  days,  all  the  places  they  had 
usurped,  belonging  to  the  apostolic  see,  as  well  as  the  profits  they 
had  reaped  from  them  since  the  time  they  first  usurped  them,  If 
they  obeyed  not  this  summons,  within  the  limited  time,  not  only 
the  city  of  Venice,  but  all  places  within  their  dominions,  were, 
ipso  facto,  to  incur  a  general  interdict ;  nay,  all  places  that  should 
receive  or  harbour  a  Venetian.  They  were,  besides,  declared 
guilty  of  high  treason,  worthy  to  be  treated  as  enemies  to  the 
Christian  name,  and  all  were  empowered  "  to  seize  on  their  effects, 
wherever  found,  and  to  enslave  their  persons."  (See  G-uicand,  et 
OnupJirius  in  vita  Julii  II.,  et  Raymund  ad  ann.  1509,  and 
Bower,  vol.  vii.  p.  379.) 

In  1538  was  published  the  bull  of  excommunication  against 
Henry  VIII.  It  had  been  drawn  up  in  1535,  on  the  occasion 
of  the  execution  of  Cardinal  Fisher,  bishop  of  Rochester;  had 
been  submitted  to  the  judgment  of  the  cardinals,  and  approved  by 
most  of  them  in  a  full  consistory.  However,  the  pope,  flattering 
himself  that  an  accommodation  with  England  might  still  be  brought 
about,  delayed  the  publication  of  it  till  then,  when,  finding  an 
agreement  with  the  king  quite  desperate,  he  published  it  with  the 
usual  solemnity,  and  caused  it  to  be  set  up  on  the  doors  of  all  the 
chief  churches  of  Rome.  By  that  bull  the  king  was  deprived  of 
his  kingdom,  his  subjects  were  not  only  absolved  from  their  oaths 
of  allegiance,  but  commanded  to  take  arms  against  him  and  drive 
him  from  the  throne ;  the  whole  kingdom  was  laid  under  interdict ; 
all  treaties  of  friendship  or  commerce  with  him  and  his  subjects 
were  declared  null,  his  kingdom  was  granted  to  any  who  should 
invade  it,  and  all  were  allowed  "  to  seize  the  effects  of  such  of  his 
subjects  as  adhered  to  him,  and  enslave  their  persons."  See 


STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY.  369 

JBurnet's  Hist,  of  the  Reform.  1.  3.  Pattavicino,  1.  4.  Saudeos 
de  Schis.  b.  i.,  and  Boiver,  vol.  vii.  p.  447. 

We  ask  permission  to  introduce  a  case  on  the  North  American 
soil,  of  somewhat  later  date.  We  allude  to  an  act,  or  law,  passed 
by  the  "United  English  Colonies,  at  New  Haven,"  in  the  year 
1646,  and  approved  and  adopted  by  a  general  court  or  convention 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Windsor,  Hartford,  and  Wethersfield,  in  the 
year  1650.  We  copy  from  the  "  Code  of  1650,"  as  published  by 
Andrus,  and  with  him  retain  the  orthography  of  that  day : 

"  This  courte  having  duly  weighed  the  joint  determination  and 
agreement  of  the  commissioners  of  the  United  English  Colonyes, 
at  New  Haven,  of  anno  1646,  in  reference  to  the  indians,  and  judg 
ing  it  to  bee  both  according  to  rules  of  prudence  and  righteous 
ness,  doe  fully  assent  thereunto,  and  order  that  it  bee  recorded 
amongst  the  acts  of  this  courte,  and  attended  in  future  practice,  as 
occasions  present  and  require ;  the  said  conclusion  is  as  follows  : 

"  The  commissioners  seriously  considering  the  many  willful 
wrongs  and  hostile  practices  of  the  indians  against  the  English, 
together  with  their  interteining,  protecting,  and  rescuing  of  offend 
ers,  as  late  our  experience  sheweth,  which  if  suffered,  the  peace 
of  the  colonyes  cannot  bee  secured :  It  is  therefore  concluded, 
that  in  such  case  the  magistrates  of  any  of  the  jurisdictions,  may, 
at  the  charge  of  the  plaintiff,  send  some  convenient  strength,  and 
according  to  the  nature  and  value  of  the  offence  and  damage, 
seize  and  bring  away  any  of  that  plantation  of  indians  that  shall 
intertein,  protect,  or  rescue  the  offender,  though  hee  should  bee  in 
another  jurisdiction,  when  through  distance  of  place,  commission  or 
direction  cannott  be  had,  after  notice  and  due  warning  given  them, 
as  actors,  or  at  least  accessary  to  the  injurye  and  damage  done  to 
the  English  :  onely  women  and  children  to  be  sparingly  seized, 
unless  known  to  bee  someway  guilty :  and  because  it  will  bee 
chargeable  keeping  indians  in  prison,  and  if  they  should  escape, 
they  are  like  to  prove  more  insolent  and  dangerous  after,  it  was 
thought  fitt,  that  uppon  such  seizure,  the  delinquent,  or  satisfac 
tion  bee  again  demanded  of  the  sagamore,  or  plantation  of  indians 
guilty  or  accessary,  as  before ;  and  if  it  bee  denyed,  that  then  the 
magistrate  of  this  jurisdiction,  deliver  up  the  indian  seized  by  the 
partye  or  partyes  indammaged,  either  to  serve  or  to  bee  shipped 
out  and  exchanged  for  neagers,  as  the  case  will  justly  boare  ;  and 
though  the  commissioners  foresee  that  said  severe,  though  just 

proceeding  may  provoke  the  indians  to  an  unjust  seizing  of  some 

24 


870  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

of  ours,  yet  they  could  not  at  present  find  no  better  means  to 
preserve  the  peace  of  the  colonyes  ;  all  the  aforementioned  out 
rages  and  insolensies  tending  to  an  open  warr ;  onely  they  thought 
fitt,  that  before  any  such  seizure  bee  made  in  any  plantation  of 
indians,  the  ensuing  declaration  bee  published,  and  a  copye  given  to 
the  particular  sagamores." 


LESSON  XX. 

UNDER  the  term  war,  mankind  have  from  time  immemorial  in 
cluded  those  acts  which  the  more  enlightened  nations  of  modern 
days  have  designated  by  the  name  of  piracy,  a  word  derived 
from  the  Greek  peirao.  The  primary  sense  is  to  dare,  to  attempt, 
&c.,  as,  to  rush  and  drive  forward,  &c. ;  used  in  a  bad  sense,  as  to 
attempt  a  thing  contrary  to  good  morals  and  contrary  to  law,  and 
now  mostly  applied  to  acts  of  violence  on  the  high  seas,  &c.  ;  the 
same  acts  on  land  being  called  robbery,  &c.  These  acts  of  vio 
lence  have  generally  been  founded  on  the  desire  of  plunder,  and 
in  all  ages  have  been  recognised  as  good  cause  of  war  against 
those  nations  or  tribes  who  upheld  and  practised  them.  Such  pi 
ratical  war  has  ever  been  considered  contrary  to  the  laws  of  God 
and  repugnant  to  civilized  life ;  and  it  may  be  with  the  strictest 
truth  asserted  that  those  nations  and  tribes  of  people  whom  God 
devoted  to  destruction,  and  also  those  of  whom  he  permitted  the 
Jews  to  make  slaves,  were  distinguished  for  such  predatory  excur 
sions.  The  first  account  we  have  of  any  such  predatory  war  is 
found  in  Genesis.  True,  it  is  said,  they  had  been  subject  to  Che- 
dorlaomer  twelve  years,  and  rebelled,  but  the  manner  in  which  he 
and  his  allies  carried  on  the  war  leaves  sufficient  evidence  of  its 
character,  even  if  they  had  not  disturbed  Lot  and  his  household ; 
and  it  may  be  well  here  remarked,  that  the  original  parties  to  this 
war  were  of  the  black  races ;  in  fact,  progenitors  of  the  very 
people  who  were  denominated  by  Moses  as  the  heathen  round 
about. 

The  second  instance  of  this  kind  of  warfare  we  find  carried  on 
by  the  sons  of  Jacob  against  the  Hivites.  True,  they  professed 
to  be  actuated  by  a  spirit  of  revenge  for  the  dishonour  of  Dinah. 
They  put  all  the  adult  males  to  death,  made  slayeg  of  the  women 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  371 


and  children,  and  possessed  themselves  of  all  the  wealth  of  She- 
chem,  for  which  they  were  reprimanded  by  Jacob.  Their  conduct 
upon  this  occasion  was  in  conformity  to  the  usages  of  the  heathen 
tribes  who  knew  not  God,  and,  if  persisted  in,  must  have  ulti 
mately  just  as  necessarily  been  fraught  with  their  own  destruction 
and  extinction  from  the  earth.  And  this  was  no  doubt  one  of  the 
many  crimes  that  gave  proof  of  their  deep  degradation,  and  which 
finally  sunk  them  in  slavery.  The  heathen  tribes  in  all  ages 
have  ever  been  characterized  by  this  kind  of  warfare,  however 
truly  and  often  the  more  civilized  portions  of  the  world  may  have 
been  obnoxious  to  similar  charges.  The  doctrine  is,  that  where 
such  predatory  war  essentially  exists  against  a  people,  they,  find 
ing  no  other  efficient  remedy,  are  authorized  by  the  laws  of  God 
to  make  war  a  remedy,  to  repel  force  by  force,  to  destroy  and  kill 
until  they  overcome,  and,  as  the  case  may  be,  to  subjugate  and 
govern  or  reduce  to  slavery.  And  the  laws  of  modern  civilized 
nations  regulating  the  conduct  of  belligerants  are  merely  an  ame 
lioration  ;  but  give  evidence  that  such  belligerants  are  already  ele 
vated  above  those  grades  of  human  life  which  look  to  subjugation 
and  slavery  as  the  only  termination  of  war.  But  the  condition 
of  man,  in  this  higher  state  of  mental  and  religious  improvement, 
is  none  the  less  governed  by  the  laws  of  Divine  power,  influencing 
and  adapted  to  his  improved  state.  Corollary :  When  the  time 
shall  come,  that  all  men  shall  live  in  strict  conformity  to  the  laws 
of  God,  war  shall  cease  from  the  earth,  and  slavery  be  no  more 
known  ;  and  at  that  time  the  Lord  will  "  turn  to  the  people  a  pure 
language,  that  they  may  all  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord," 
to  serve  him  with  one  consent.  "  Then  from  beyond  the  rivers 
of  Ethiopia,  my  suppliants,  even  the  daughter  of  my  dispersed, 
(phut)  shall  bring  mine  offering."  ZepJi.  iii.  9,  10. 

We  have  heretofore  alluded  to  the  idolatrous  barbarians  of  the 
north  of  Europe  and  to  their  inroads  upon  the  more  civilized  re 
gions  of  the  south.  It  may  be  well  to  take  some  further  notice 
of  these  people,  to  mark  the  influence  of  their  predatory  wars  on 
the  morals  of  those  times,  and  of  the  influences  of  the  church  in 
counteracting  and  ameliorating  their  effect  on  the  character  and 
condition  of  the  Christian  world.  Their  religion  was  cast  upon  the 
•model  of  their  savage  appetite :  easily  excited  by  the  love  of  con 
quest  and  plunder,  their  minds  were  still  further  inflamed  by  their 
bards,  who  promised  them,  after  death,  daily  combats  of  immortal 
fury,  with  glittering  weapons  and  fiery  steeds,  in  the  immediate 


372  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 

presence  of  their  supreme  god,  Oden.  The  wounds  of  these 
conflicts  were  to  be  daily  washed  away  by  the  waters  of  life. 
Congregated  in  the  great  hall  of  their  deity,  seated  upon  the  skulls 
of  those  they  had  slain  in  battle,  they  spent  each  night  in  cele 
brating  in  song  the  victories  they  had  won,  refreshing  themselves 
with  strong  drink  out  of  the  skulls  on  which  they  rested,  while 
they  feasted  on  the  choicest  morsels  of  the  victims  they  had  sacri 
ficed  to  their  gods.  Constantine,  having  succeeded  to  the  throne 
of  the  Roman  Empire,  transferred  his  court  to  Constantinople. 
This,  a  notable  step  in  the  downfall  of  Rome,  was  followed  by  his 
dividing  his  dominions  between  three  sons  and  two  nephews.  The 
imperial  power  thus  partitioned  away,  the  northern  nations,  who 
had  been  subjected  to  her  rule,  no  longer  regarded  Rome  as  a 
sovereign  power  over  them:  at  once  the  German  tribes,  among 
whom  were  the  Franks,  overran  Gaul :  the  Picts  and  Saxons 
broke  into  Britain,  and  the  Sarmatians  into  Hungary.  The  spirit 
of  war  was  let  loose.  As  early  as  the  time  of  the  Christian  era, 
scattered  from  the  Caucasus  to  the  north-eastern  Pacific,  were  nu 
merous  tribes  whom  the  all-conquering  arm  of  Rome  had  never 
reached.  Cradled  amidst  precipitous  mountains,  savage  and  wild 
scenery,  howling  tempests  or  eternal  snows,  the  form  of  their 
minds  and  the  character  of  their  religion  associated  with  the  re 
gion  of  their  birth. 

Europe  has  given  some  of  them  the  appellation,  Vandals, 
Sueves,  Alans,  Sclavas,  Goths,  Huns,  Tartars,  and  Veneti.  Rest 
less  as  the  elements  of  their  native  clime,  their  leaders  ever  showed 
themselves  striving  for  dominion  and  thirsty  for  power.  Pushing 
westward,  one  upon  the  other,  they  became  somewhat  amalgamated 
in  the  north  of  Europe,  under  the  general  term  of  Scandinavians, 
yet  receiving  new  cognomens  or  retaining  their  old  as  fancy  or 
knowledge  of  them  suggested ;  yet,  in  the  middle  and  south  of 
Europe,  they  were  as  commonly  known  by  the  appellation  of 
Northmen.  The  most  of  these  people  were  emphatically  warlike 
and  savage.  The  world  possessed  no  one  power  sufficiently  strong 
to  restrain  them.  Italy  was  overrun  and  Rome  itself  was  cap 
tured  by  the  Goths,  under  Alaric — then  by  the  Herulians,  under 
Odoacer.  They  in  turn  were  subdued  by  Theodoric  the  Ostro 
goth — then  by  the  Lombards  from  Brandenburg,  who  sstablished 
a  more  permanent  government.  But  they,  in  turn,  yielded  to  the 
power  of  the  Franks,  under  Charlemagne,  who  entered  Rome  in 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  373 

triumph,  and  was  crowned  Emperor  of  the  West,  as  elsewhere 
noted  by  us. 

Up  to  the  time  of  Charlemagne,  the  Northmen  were  excited  to 
war,  not  alone  by  their  love  of  liberty  and  a  desire  to  extend  their 
possessions,  but  also  by  their  hatred  to  the  Christians  and  their 
religion ;  and  in  the  countries  further  north,  this  prejudice  existed 
until  a  much  later  day.     But  we  have  only  time  to  give  an  ex 
ample  of  the  character  of  their  inroads  on  the  peace  and  prosperity 
of  Europe.     Scotland  had  been  early  engaged  in  these  conflicts. 
In  June,  793,  the  Northumbrians  were  alarmed  by  a  large  arma 
ment  on  their  coast.     These  barbarians  were  permitted  to  land 
without  opposition.     The  plunder  of  the  churches  exceeded  their 
expectations,  and  their  route  was  marked  by  the  mangled  carcasses 
of  the  nuns,  the  monks,  and  the  priests,  whom  they  had  massacred. 
Historians  have  scarcely  condescended  to  notice  the  misfortunes 
of  other  churches  than  that  of  Lindesferne,  which  became  a  prey 
to  these  barbarians :  their  impiety  polluted  the  altars ;  their  ra 
pacity  was  rewarded  by  its  gold  and  silver  ornaments.    The  monks 
endeavoured,  by  concealment,  to  elude  their  cruelty ;  the  greater 
number  were  discovered  and  slaughtered.      If  the   lives  of  the 
children  were  spared,  they  were  sold  into  slavery.  (See  Lingard.)  In 
800,  these  Northmen  made  an  irruption  on  the  German  coast,  and 
carried  off  plunder  and  captives.     They  shortly  visited  France  :  a 
large  party  entered  the  Loire,  and  fixed  permanent  quarters  in 
the  island  of  Hero,  and  made  their  incursions  thence.    The  French 
writers   describe   them   as   now  pushing    in  upon  their  northern 
coasts,  carrying  off  captives  into  slavery  and  loading  their  vessels 
with  booty.    In  841  they  entered  the  Seine,  sacked  and  burned  the 
monastery   of    St.  Ouen,   of  Jumieges,  spared  Fontenelle  for  a 
ransom,  where   the  monks   of  St.  Denys  paid    them   twenty-six 
pounds  of  silver  for  sixty-eight  captives.     For  nineteen  days  they 
ravaged  both  banks  of  the  river.     In  843,  they  again  entered  the 
Loire,  took  Nantes,  when  the  city  was  filled  by  the  inhabitants  of 
the  neighbouring  country,  celebrating  the  festival  of  St.  John,  who 
retired  with  the  bishop  and  clergy  to  the  cathedral.     The  gates 
were  soon  burst  open,  and  a  general  slaughter  ensued:  loaded 
with  booty  and  captives,  they  retired  to  their  ships.     In  844,  they 
sailed  up  the  Garonne,  pillaged  Toulouse,  made  an  attempt  on 
Gallicia  in   Spain,  but  were  repelled  by  the  Saracens.     In  845, 
Ragner  Lodbroy,  one  of  their  sea-kings,  entered  the  Seine  with 
twenty-six  ships,  and  spread  consternation  through  the  land,  leaving, 


374  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

in  their  rear,  Christians  hanging  on  trees,  stakes,  and  even  in 
their  houses.  They  entered  Paris,  when  Charles  the  Bald,  by  the 
advice  of  his  lords,  paid  them  seven  thousand  pounds  of  silver, 
and  they  swore  by  their  gods  to  never  re-enter  his  kingdom  except 
by  his  invitation.  They  ravaged  the  seacoast  on  their  return 
homeward,  and  were  wrecked  on  the  shores  of  Northumbria, 
where  Ragner  and  the  survivors  recommenced  to  plunder.  They 
were  attacked  by  Aella,  and  Ragner  slain.  But  a  formidable 
fleet,  under  the  command  of  Ragner's  sons,  was  soon  on  the  coast 
of  the  East  Angles,  and  marked  their  advances  to  Northumbria  in 
lines  of  blood  and  ruin.  Aella  fell  into  their  hands,  and  was  put 
to  death  with  untold  torture.  This  incursion  of  Ragner  is  noticed 
by  Voltaire,  who  says  that  Charles  the  Bald  paid  him  fourteen 
thousand  marks  in  gold  to  retire  from  France,  and  adds,  in  his 
"General  History  of  Europe,"  such  payments  to  the  Northmen 
only  induced  them  to  continue  these  •  piratical  incursions.  That 
these  wars  were  most  strictly  piratical,  not  undertaken  for  the 
good  of  mankind,  but  for  plunder  alone,  we  beg  here  to  introduce 
some  proof  from  the  early  writers. 

Adam  of  Bremen,  who,  about  the  year  1080,  wrote  his  work  en 
titled,  "De  Situ  Danae  et  Reliquarum,  Septentrionalium,"  says 
of  the  city  of  "Lunden,"  in  the  island  Schonen — "It  is  a  city  in 
which  there  is  much  gold,  which  is  procured  by  those  incursions 
on  the  barbarous  nations  on  the  shores  of  the  Baltic  Sea,  which 
are  tolerated  and  encouraged  by  the  king  of  Denmark  on  account 
of  the  tribute  he  draws  from  them."  In  proof  that  Voltaire's  esti 
mate  of  the  influence  of  such  payments  to  these  northern  pirates 
was  just,  we  advert  to  their  inroads  on  Ethelred.  Soon  after  he 
ascended  the  throne,  he  was  invaded  by  Sweyn,  by  some  called 
Sitric,  and  Olave,  and  paid  them  sixteen  thousand  pounds.  Ten 
years  after,  he  was  forced  to  pay  these  Northmen  thirty  thousand 
pounds,  and  then,  at  the  expiration  of  only  four  years,  forty  thou 
sand  pounds  more ;  each  time  the  Northmen  swearing  by  their 
gods  to  never  trouble  the  country  again.  Yet,  twelve  years  after 
the  last  payment,  the  crown  and  throne  were  transferred  to  Canute. 
"VVe  have  an  anonymous  Latin  author,  a  contemporary  of  Canute, 
who  informs  us  to  what  use  these  pirate  lords  applied  the  vast  sums 
thus  procured.  The  book  is  entitled,  "Emmae  Anglorum  Reginte 
Encomium," — The  Encomium  of  Emma,  the  Queen  of  England. 
She  was  the  wife  of  Canute.  Page  166,  the  author,  describing  the 
Danish  ships,  says — "  On  the  stern  of  the  ships,  lions  of  molten  gold 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  £75 

were  to  be  seen :  on  the  mast-heads  were  either  birds,  whose  turning 
showed  the  change  of  the  wind,  or  dragons  of  various  forms,  which 
threatened  to  breathe  out  fire.  There  were  to  be  seen  human 
figures  looking  like  life,  glittering  with  gold  and  silver ;  dolphins 
of  precious  metals,  and  centaurs  that  brought  to  mind  the  ancient 
fables.  But  how  shall  I  describe  the  sides  of  the  ships,  which 
swelled  out  with  gold  and  silver  ornaments !  But  the  royal  ship  ex 
ceeded  all  the  rest  as  far  as  the  king  in  appearance  exceeded  the 
common  soldiers  or  people."  This  author,  in  the  second  book,  de 
scribing  the  landing  of  the  Danes,  repeats  and  says — "  The  ships  were 
so  splendid  that  they  seemed  a  flame  of  fire,  and  blinded  the  eyes 
of  the  beholders ;  the  gold  flamed  on  the  sides,  and  silver-work 
was  mingled  with  it.  Who  could  look  upon  the  lions  of  gold  ? 
Who  on  the  human  figures  of  electrum,  (a  mixture  of  gold  and 
silver,)  their  faces  of  pure  gold  ?  Who  on  the  dragons,  gleaming 
with  brilliant  gold  ?  Who  could  look  on  the*  carved  oxen,  that 
threatened  death  with  their  golden  horns  ?  Who  could  look  on 
all  flbese  things  and  not  fear  a  king  possessed  of  so  great  power?" 
Jacobs's  "Inquiry  into  the  Precious  Metals"  attributes  the  accumu 
lation  of  gold  and  silver,  of  which  we  have  seen  a  specimen  among 
these  northern  barbarians,  to  the  piracies  of  these  people.  Hel- 
modus,  in  his  Sclavonic  Chronicles,  (Qhronican  Sdavicum,)  lib.  iii., 
says  the  people  of  Denmark  abounded  in  all  riches,  the  wealthy 
being  clothed  in  all  sorts  of  scarlet,  in  purple  and  fine  linen, 
(mine  non  salum  scarlatica  vario  grisio,  sed  purpurea  et  bysso  in- 
duntur;)  and  he  further  adds,  "that  this  wealth  is  drawn  from  the 
herring-fishery  at  the  island  of  Sclfonen,  whither  traders  of  all 
nations  resorting,  bring  with  them  gold,  silver,  and  other  commo 
dities,  for  purchasing  fish."  The  fact  was,  that  island  became  a 
place  of  great  resort  by  these  pirates  for  supplies.  But  we  return 
to  sketch  these  piracies : — In  about  the  year  846,  an  immense 
body  of  Scandinavians  ascended  the  Elbe  with  six  hundred  vessels 
under  their  king  Roric.  Hamburg  was  burned ;  they  then  poured 
down  upon  Saxony ;  but,  having  met  with  a  defeat,  and  just  then 
learning  the  fate  of  Ragner,  sent  messengers  to  Louis,  king  of 
Germany,  sued  for  peace,  and  were  permitted  to  retire  from  the 
country  upon  their  giving  up  their  plunder  and  releasing  their 
captives.  After  leaving  the  Elbe,  Roric  went  to  the  Rhine  and 
the  Scheldt,  destroyed  all  the  monasteries  as  far  as  Ghent,  and 
the  Emperor  Lothaire,  unable  to  subdue  him,  received  him  as  his 
vassal  and  gave  him  a  large  territory.  In  850,  Godfrey,  another 


376  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

chieftain,  repulsed  in  an  attack  on  England,  sailed  up  the  Seine, 
and,  after  some  successes,  obtained  from  King  Charles  a  permanent 
location  and  territory  about  Beauvais.  In  856,  nearly  all  the 
coast  of  France,  and  to  the  interior  as  far  as  Orleans,  was  over 
run.  The  churches  were  plundered,  and  captives  carried  away 
and  enslaved.  In  Flanders,  all  the  chief  men  and  prelates  were 
either  slain  or  in  slavery.  These  pirates  circumnavigated  Spain, 
amalgamated  with  the  Moors  of  Africa ;  some  entered  the  G-ulf 
of  Lyons,  and  committed  dejjedations  in  Provence  and  Italy.  All 
notions  of  peace,  of  justice,  were  wasting  away,  and  the  laws  of 
the  monarchs  and  the  canons  of  the  councils  began  to  exhibit  the 
ruins  of  morality.  In  861,  the  Seine  is  again  infested,  and  Paris  ter- 
rifietli  In  883,  they  poured  themselves  on  both  sides  of  the  Rhine, 
as  high  as  Coblentzf  where  the  Emperor  Charles  made  a  treaty 
with  Godfrey  and  gave  him  the  duchy  of  Friesland.  France 
was  so  much  overrtfn  by  the  pagans,  that  thousands  of  Christians, 
to  escape  death  or  bondage,  publicly  renounced  their  religion  and 
embraced  the  pagan  rites ;  and  not  long  after,  Hollo,  the  grand 
father  of  William  the  Conqueror,  at  the  head  of  his  Scandinavian 
bands,  took  possession  and  held  the  dukedom  of  Normandy,  and 
forced  Charles  the  Simple  to  bestow  him  Gisla  his  daughter  in 
marriage.  In  England,  Alfred,  placing  himself  at  the  head  of iis 
faithful  followers,  subdued  the  Danes,  who  had  overrun  his  king 
dom  ;  and  many  of  them,  embracing  the  Christian  religion,  we're 
adopted  as  subjects  of  the  realm.  In  893,  a  fleet  of  three  hundred 
and  thirty  sail  rendezvoused  at  Boulogne,  under  the  command  of 
Hastings,  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  conquering  for  himself  a 
kingdom  in  Britain.  Three  years  he  contended  against  Alfred, 
who  eventually  subdued  him,  but  restored  to  him  all  the  captives 
upon  his  promise  to  leave  the  island  for  ever. 

Nor  did  Ireland  escape  the  ravages  of  the  Northmen.  In  T83, 
they  landed  in  the  extreme  north  of  the  island,  and  burned  the  town 
and  abbey  of  Dere  Columb-kill,  the  Londonderry  of  more  modern 
times.  Here  the  Hydaher-teagh,  the  chiefs  of  the  oak  habitations, 
(the  0' Dougherty' s  of  a  latter  day,)  secured  the  record  of  their 
name  in  the  "Book  of  ffowth."  But  here  the  Tuatha  De  Danaan, 
the  Darnii  of  Ptolemy,  washed  out  even  the  history  of  their  race 
in  the  blood  of  battle. 

In  790,  the  Danes  made  a  general  assault  upon  this  devoted 
island :  in  797,  wasted  the  island  of  Ragulin,  devastated  Holm 
Patrick,  and  carried  away  captives,  among  whom  was  the  sister  of 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  377 

St.  Findan,  and,  shortly  after,  the  saint  himself.  In  802,  they 
burned  the  monastery  of  Hy :  in  807,  destroyed  Roscommon,  ra 
vaged  the  country,  and  made  captives  and  slaves.  In  812,  they 
again  burned  Londonderry  and  its  abbey ;  massacred  the  students 
and  the  clergy;  nor  did  they  relax  their  attacks  upon  the  north 
of  the  island  until,  twenty  years  after,  they  were  driven  from  the 
place  by  Neil  Calne,  with  most  incredible  slaughter.  But  yet  the 
whole  island  was  infested  by  these  northern  marauders. 

In  812,  the  Irish  made  a  more  determined  resistance,  and  the 
Northmen,  after  three  defeats,  escaped  from  the  island.  But,  in 
817,  Turgesius,  with  a  large  force,  overran  a  large  portion  of  the 
island,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  clergy,  n*mks,  and  nuns  w.ere 
massacred,  and  many  of  the  inl?abitants,taken  into  captivity. 

In  837,  two  large  additional  fleets  arri^efl ;  one  entered  tha 
Boyne,  and  the  other  the  Liffy.  The  masses  which  they  poured 
upon  the  country  spread  in  all  directions,  committing  every  kind 
of  excess.  « 

In  848,  Olchobair  McKinde,  king  of  Munster,  uniting  his  troops 
with  tjipse  of  Dorcan,  king  of  Leinster,  was  encouraged  by  a  |uc- 
cession 'of  victories  over  the  pagans;  yet  the  archbishop  of  Armagh 
and  seven  hundred  of  his  countrymen  were  made  captive,  and 
sent,by  Turgesius  to  Limerick  as  slaves.  But  Melseachlin,  king 
of  Ireland,  defeated  Turgesius  and  put  him  to  death.  The  Irish 
now  arose  on  every  side  and  drove  the  barbarians  from  the  country. 
But  yet,  in  850,  Dublin  was  invaded  by  a  band  of  Northmen,  whom 
the  Irish  denominated  Fin-gal,  or  white  strangers,  and  by  another 
body,  called  DubJi-gal^  or  black  strangers,  who  took  possession  of 
Leinster  and  Ulster,  and  ravaged  the  country.  In  853,  a  sea-king, 
named  Amlave,  Auliffe,  or  Olave,  from  Norway,  with  two  brothers, 
Sitric  and  Ivor,  with  large  additional  forces,  arrived,  and  was 
acknowlet^ged  chief  of  all  the  Northmen  in  the  islands.  He  took 
possession  of  Dublin,  Limerick,  and  Waterford,  which  he  enlarged 
and  improved,  as  if  their  possession  was  to  be  perpetual.  But 
war  not  only  raged  between  them  and  the  Irish,  but  the  Irish  and' 
Danes  were  in  perpetual  conflict,  different  parties  of  Danes  with 
one  another,  and  discord  and  strife  were  constant  among  the  Irish 
themselves.  Carna'ge  and  bloodshed,  captivity  and  slavery  every 
where  covered  the  island.  4 

In  860,  Melseachlin,  the  king,  defeated  Auliffe  with  great 
slaughter ;  but,  recovering  strength,  he  plundered  and  burned 
Armagh,  and  took  a  large  number  of  captives,  who  were  sent  away 


378  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

for  slaves.  In  884,  Kildare  was  plundered,  and  more  than  300 
sent  away  for  slaves.  In  892,  Armagh  was  again  captured,  and  800 
captives  sent  to  the  ships.  But,  in  quick  succession,  Carrol,  with 
Leinster  forces,  and  Aloal  Finia,  with  the  men  of  Bregh,  defeated 
the  Danes  and  retook  Dublin,  while  in  other  parts  of  the  island 
the  Northmen  suffered  great  reverses ;  but  in  914  we  find  them 
again  returned  and  in  possession  of  Dublin  and  Waterford,  but 
quickly  put  to  the  sword  by  the  Irish.  Another  division  succeeded 
to  plunder  Cork,  Lismore,  and  Aghadoe  ;  and,  in  916,  were  again 
in  Dublin,  ravaged  Leinster,  and  killed  Olioll,  the  king.  In  919, 
they  were  attacked  near  Dublin  by  Niell  Glunndubh,  king  of  Ire 
land.  Their  resistance  was  desperate,  under  the  command  of  the 
chiefs  Ivor  and  Sitric  :  here  fell  'the  Irish  monarch,  the  choice 
Mobility,  and  the  flower  of  the  army.  Donough  revenged  the  death 
of  the  king,  his  father,  and  the  barbarians  were  again  signally  de 
feated  ;  but  we  find  them,  in  921,  under  the  command  of  Godfrey, 
their  king,  in  possession  of  Dublin,  marching  te  and  plundering 
Armagh,  and,  for  the  first  time,  sparing  the  churches  and  the  offi- 
ciatjng  clergy.  A  predatory  war,  without  decisive  encounters,  was 
continued  for  more  than  twenty  years,  when  they  suffered  two 
*  severe  defeats  from  Cougall  IL,  in  which  their  king,  Blacar,  and 

the  most  of  his  army  were  slain.     In but  the  mind  sickens, 

tires  at  these  recitals  ;  a  whole  army  is  swept  away,  and,  as  if 
the  ocean  poured  twice  its  numbers  on  shore,  whole  centuries  gave 
no  relief.  In  short,  we  have  a  continuation  of  these  scenes  of 
piratical  war,  until  the  power  and  spirit  of  this  restless  race  of  the 
Northmen  were  broken  at  Clontarf,  near  Dublin,  on  the  23d  of 
April,  1014,  where  they  suffered  an  irrecoverable  defeat  from  the 
Irish,  under  the  command  of  Brian  Boroimhe. 

Ireland  did  well  to  rejoice  in  the  perfect  overthrow  of  these 
ruthless  invaders ;  but  here  fell  Brian,  whom  ninety  winters  had 
only  nerved  for  the  conflict.  Here  fell  his  son  Morogh,  and  his 
grandson  Turlogh,  personifications  of  the  rage  of  battle  ;  here  fell 
a  numerous,  almost  the  entire,  nobility ;  here  fell  Ireland's  valiant 
warriors  in  unnumbered  heaps.  The  voice  of  Ireland  is  yet  some 
times  heard,  but  it  is  the  voice  of  a  broken  heart ;  of  complaint,  of 
weakness,  of  weeping,  and  sadness.  In  a  review  of  these  times 
and  those  that  followed,  the  providence  of  God  may  be  traced  by 
its  final  development.  Where  no  mercy  was,  it  is  infused  by  hope 
of  gain  ;  and  the  savage  and  the  captured  slave  are  led  to  an  equal 
elevation  in  the  service  of  the  altar  of  the  God  Jehovah. 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  379 


The  sacrifice  of  the  Lamb  is  substituted  for  the  victim  of  war 
in  the  woods  of  Woden ;  while  the  proud  flashes  of  the  crescent 
of  Islam  became  dim  before  the  continued  raj  of  the  Star  of 
Bethlehem. 


LESSON  XXI. 

THE  condition  of  the  slave,  throughout  the  whole  of  Europe, 
was  attended  with  some  circumstances  of  great  similarity. 

The  slaves  were  generally  of  the  same  nation,  tribe,  and  people, 
who  formed  a  constituent  portion  of  the  free  population  of  the 
country  where  they  were,  and  always  of  the  same  colour  and  race. 
Even  the  Sclavonians,  on  the  continent,  formed  no  exception  in 
the  more  northern  parts  of  Europe.  In  short,  slavery,  as  it  ex 
isted  in  Europe,  was  only  in  a  very  few  instances  in  the  south 
marked  by  any  radical  distinction  of  race  :  consequently,  the  con 
dition  of  the  slave  could  never  be  as  permanent  and  fixed  as  it 
ever  must  be  where  strong  distinctions  of  race  mark  the  bounda 
ries  between  bondage  and  freedom — although  often  far  more  cruel. 

The  disgrace  of  the/ree,  from  an  amalgamation  with  the  slaves, 
did  not  proceed  from  any  consideration  as  to  race,  but  merely  from 
the  condition  of  the  slave — more  pointed,  but  somewhat  analogous 
to  the  disgrace  among  the  more  elevated  and  wealthy,  arising  from 
an  intermarriage  with  the  ignorant,  degraded,  or  poor.  Influenced 
by  such  a  state  of  facts,  the  particulars  of  his  condition  were  liable 
to  constant  change,  as  affected  by  accident,  the  good  or  ill  conduct 
of  the  individual  slave,  the  sense  of  justice,  partiality,  fancy,  or 
the  wants  and  condition  of  the  master ;  nor  needed  it  the  talent 
of  deep  prophecy  to  have  foretold  that  such  a  state  of  slavery 
must  ultimately  eventuate  in  freedom  from  bondage. 

A  description  of  the  slaves  of  Britain  will  give  a  general  view 
of  those  of  the  continent,  for  which  we  refer  to  Dr.  Lingard^ 

The  classes  whose  manners  have  been  heretofore  described  con 
stituted  the  Anglo-Saxon  nation.  They  alone  were  possessed  of 
liberty,  or  power,  or  property.  But  they  formed  but  a  small  part 
of  the  population,  of  which  not  less  than  two-thirds  existed  in  a 
state  of  slavery. 

All  the  first  adventurers  were  freemen ;  but  in  the  course  of 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

their  conquests,  made  a  great  number  of  slaves.  The  posterity  of 
these  men  inherited  the  lot  of  their  fathers,  and  their  number  was 
continually  increased  by  freeborn  Saxons,  who  had  been  reduced 
to  the  same  condition  by  debt,  or  made  captives  in  war,  or  deprived 
of  liberty  in  punishment  of  their  crimes,  or  had  voluntarily  sur 
rendered  it  to  escape  the  horrors  of  want. 

The  ceremony  of  the  degradation  and  enslavement  of  a  freeman 
was  performed  before  a  competent  number  of  witnesses.  "  The 
unhappy  man  laid  on  the  ground  his  sword  and  his  lance,  the  sym 
bols  of  the  free,  took  up  the  bill  and  the  goad,  the  implements 
of  slavery,  and  falling  on  his  knees,  placed  his  head,  in  token  of 
submission,  under  the  hands  of  his  master." 

All  slaves  were  not,  however,  numbered  in  the  same  class.  In 
the  more  ancient  laws  we  find  the  esne  distinguished  from  the 
theow ;  and  read  of  female  slaves  of  the  first,  the  second,  and 
third  rank.  In  later  enactments  we  meet  with  borders,  cocksets, 
parddings,  and  other  barbarous  denominations,  of  which,  were  it 
easy,  it  would  be  useless  to  investigate  the  meaning.  The  most 
numerous  class  consisted  of  those  who  lived  on  the  land  of  their 
lord,  near  to  his  mansion,  called  in  Saxon  his  tune — in  Latin,  his 
villa.  From  the  latter  word  they  were  by  the  Normans  denomi 
nated  villeins,  while  the  collection  of  cottages  in  which  they  dwelt 
acquired  the  name  of  village.  Their  respective  services  were  ori 
ginally  allotted  to  them  according  to  the  pleasure  of  their  pro 
prietor.  Some  tilled  his  lands,  others  exercised  for  him  the  trades 
to  which  they  had  been  educated.  In  return,  they  received  certain 
portions  of  land,  with  other  perquisites,  for  the  support  of  them 
selves  and  their  families. 

But  all  were  alike  deprived  of  the  privileges  of  freemen.  They 
were  forbidden  to  carry  arms.  Their  persons,  families,  and  goods 
of  every  description  were  the  property  of  their  lord.  He  could 
dispose  of  them  as  he  pleased,  either  by  gift  or  sale :  he  could 
annex  them  to  the  soil,  or  remove  them  from  it :  he  could  transfer 
them  with  it  to  a  new  proprietor,  or  leave  them  by  will  to  his  heirs. 
Out  of  the  hundreds  of  instances  preserved  by  our  ancient 
writers,  one  may  be  sufficient.  In  the  charter  by  which  Harold  of 
Buckenhole  gives  his  manor  of  Spaulding  to  the  abbey  of  Croy- 
land,  he  enumerates  among  its  appendages  Colgrin,  his  bailiff, 
Harding,  his  smith,  Lefstan,  his  carpenter,  Elstan,  his  fisherman, 
Osmund,  his  miller,  and  nine  others,  who  probably  were  his  hus 
bandmen  ;  and  these  with  their  wives  and  children.  Wherever 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  881 


slaves  have  been  numerous,  and  of  the  same  race  as  the  master, 
this  variety  in  their  condition  has  always  followed.  See  the  state 
ment  of  Muratori  concerning  the  Roman  slaves  ;  also  the  laws  of 
Charlemagne  concerning  those  of  the  Lombards  and  Goths. 
These  records  are  proof  that  slavery,  accompanied  with  such  facts, 
is  always  in  the  act  of  wearing  out. 


LESSON  XXII. 

ALL  historians  agree  that  the  Sclavonians,  who  at  an  early  age 
made  their  appearance  on  the  north-eastern  borders  of  Europe, 
came,  a  countless  multitude,  pouring  down  upon  those  countries 
from  the  middle  regions  of  Asia. 

The  precise  place  from  which  they  originated,  the  causes  of  such 
emigration,  and  the  successive  impulses  that  pushed  them  west 
ward,  have  now,  for  centuries,  been  buried  beneath  the  rubbish  of 
the  emigrants  themselves  and  the  general  ignorance  that  over 
spread  the  events  of  that  age. 

But  there  are  some  facts  that  assign  to  them  a  place  among  the 
Hindoo  tribes.  Brezowski,  speaking  the  Sclavonic  of  his  day,  in 
his  travels  eastward,  was  enabled  to  understand  the  language 
of  the  country  as  far  east  as  Cochin-China ;  and  scholars  of  the 
present  day  find  numerous  Indian  roots  in  this  language.  A 
similarity  of  religious  rites  is  to  be  noticed  between  the  ancient 
Sclavonians  and  the  Hindoos.  They  burned  their  dead,  and  wives 
ascended  the  funeral  piles  of  their  husbands.  Their  principal  gods 
were  Bog,  and  Seva,  his  wife.  They  worshipped  good  spirits  called 
Belbog,  and  bad  spirits  called  Czarnebog. 

These  hordes  overspread  the  countries  from  the  Black  Sea  to 
the  Icy  Ocean  ;  and,  in  their  turn,  were  forced  westward  by  similar 
hordes  of  Wends,  Veneti,  Antes,  Goths,  and  Huns.  Thus  attacked 
and  pushed  in  the  rear,  they  poured  themselves  upon  the  inhabit 
ants  of  the  more  western  regions,  who,  more  warlike,  and  with 
superior  arms,  put  them  to  death  by  thousands,  until  the  earth  was 
covered  with  the  slain.  Thus  fleeing  from  death,  they  met  it  in 
front,  until  the  nations  then  occupying  the  north  and  east  of 
Europe,  satiated  and  sickened  by  their  slaughter,  seized  upon  their 
persons  as  slaves,  and  converted  them  into  beasts  of  burden. 


382  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

Their  numbers  exceeding  every  possible  use,  the  captors  exported 
them  to  adjoining  countries  as  an  article  of  traffic ;  and  the  Vene 
tians,  being  then  a  commercial  people,  enriched  themselves  by  this 
traffic  for  many  years.  All  continental  Europe  was  thus  filled  by  this 
race,  from  the  Adriatic  to  the  Northern  Ocean.  Thus  their  na 
tional  appellation  became  through  Europe  the  significant  term  for 
a  man  in  bondage ;  and  although  in  their  own  language  their  name 
signified  fame  and  distinction,  yet  in  all  the  world  besides,  it  has 
superseded  the  Hebrew,  the  Greek,  and  Roman  terms,  to  signify 
the  condition  of  man  in  servitude.  Thus  the  Dutch  and  Belgians 
say  slaaf ';  Germans,  sclave ;  Danes,  slave  and  sclave  ;  Swedes, 
xlaf ;  French,  esclave ;  the  Celtic  French,  &c.,  sclaff ;  Italians, 
schiavo  ;  Spanish,  esclavo;  Portuguese,  escravo  ;  Gaelic,  slabhadh  ; 
and  the  English,  slave. 

Nor  was  this  signification  inappropriate  to  their  native  condition. 
For  these  countless  hordes  were  the  absolute  property  of  their 
leaders  or  kings,  who  were  hereditary  among  them, — as  was,  also, 
their  condition  of  bondage. 

The  Romans  called  their  language  Servian,  from  the  Roman  word 
servus,  a  bond-man ;  and  from  the  same  cause,  also,  a  district  of 
country  low  down  on  the  Danube,  Servia,  which  name  it  retains  to 
this  day.  This  country  belongs  to  Turkey,  from  whence  they  took 
the  name  serf.  This  term  has  been  borrowed  from  thence,  by  the 
Sclavonic  Russians,  to  signify  a  man  in  bondage.  The  whole  num 
ber  of  their  descendants  is  now  estimated  at  100,000,000;  and 
notwithstanding  their  amalgamation  has  identified  them  with  the 
nations  with  whom  they  were  thus  intermingled,  yet  a  thousand 
years  have  not  ended  their  condition  of  bondage  in  Russia,  and 
40,000,000  are  accounted  only  as  an  approximation  to  the  number 
that  still  remain  in  servitude  in  the  north  of  Europe  and  Asia. 

"The  unquestionable  evidence  of  language,"  says  the  author  of 
the  Decline  and  Fall,  "attests  the  descent  of  the  Bulgarians  from 
the  original  stock  of  the  Sclavonian,  or  more  properly  Slavonian, 
race;  and  the  kindred  bands  of  Servians,  Bosnians,  Rascians, 
Croatians,  Walachians,  followed  either  the  standard  or  example  of 
the  leading  tribes,  from  the  Euxine  to  the  Adriatic,  in  the  state 
of  captives,  or  subjects,  or  allies,  or  enemies ;  in  the  Greek  empire, 
they  .overspread  the  land :  and  the  national  appellation  of  the 
SLAVES  has  been  degraded  by  chance  or  malice  from  the  significa 
tion  of  glory  to  that  of  servitude.  Chalcocondyles,  a  competent 
judge,  affirms  the  identity  of  the  language  of  the  Dalmatians, 


STUDIES  ON   SLAVERY.  383 

Bosnians,  Servians,  Bulgarians,  Poles,  (De  Helm  Turcitis,  1.  x.  p. 
283,)  and  elsewhere  of  the  Bohemians,  (1.  ii.  p.  38.)  The  same  author 
has  marked  the  separate  idiom  of  the  Hungarians. 

See  the  work  of  John  Christopher  de  Jordan,  De  Originibus 
Sclavicis,  Vindobonx,  1745,  in  four  parts.  Jordan  subscribes 
to  the  well-known  and  probable  derivation  from  slava,  laus,  gloria, 
a  word  of  familiar  use  in  the  different  dialects  and  parts  of  speech, 
and  which  forms  the  termination  of  the  most  illustrious  names. 
De  Originibus  Sclavicis,  part  i.  p.  40,  part  iv.  p.^  101,  102. 

This  conversion  of  a  national  into  an  appellative  name  appears 
to  have  arisen  in  the  eighth  century,  in  the  oriental  France,  where 
the  princes  and  bishops  were  rich  in  Sclavonian  captives,  not  of 
the  Bohemian  (exclaims  Jordan)  but  of  Sorabian  race.  From 
thence  the  word  was  extended  to  general  use,  to  the  modern  lan 
guages,  and  even  to  the  style  of  the  last  Byzantines.  (See  the 
Greek  and  Latin  Glossaries  of  Ducange;  also  Gibbon's  Decline  and 
Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  vol.  iv.  p.  38.) 

The  Moors,  with  whom  the  early  Christians  in  the  south  of 
Europe  had  so  many  and  frequent  contentions,  at  this  day  differ 
from  all  the  other  African  races,  in  their  physical  and  mental  de 
velopment  ; — in  person,  black,  with  the  straight  hair  of  the  Arab, 
whom  they  exceed  in  stature  and  intellect. 

The  Arabs  are  admitted  to  be  an  amalgamation  of  the  descend 
ants  of  Shem,  of  Canaan,  and  Misrain.  Into  the  particulars  of 
their  admixture,  it  will  be  as  useless  to  inquire  as  it  would  be  into 
the  paternity  of  the  goats  on  their  mountains. 

The  Moors,  according  to  King  Hiempsal's  History  of  Africa,  as 
related  by  Sallust,  are  descended  from  art  admixture  of  Medes, 
Persians,  and  Armenians  with  the  Libyans  and  Gaetulians,  the 
original  occupants  of  the  country.  His  statement  is,  that  Her 
cules  led  a  large  army  of  the  people  to  conquer  new  and  unknown 
countries  ;  that  after  his  death  in  Spain,  it  became  a  heterogeneous 
mass,  made  up  of  a  great  number  of  nations,  among  whom  were 
many  ambitious  chiefs,  each  one  aspiring  to  rule ;  that  a  portion 
of  this  mass,  mostly  of  Japhanese  descent,  passed  over  to  Africa 
and  seized  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean ;  that  their  ships, 
being  hauled  ashore,  were  used  for  shelter;  that  the  Persians 
among  them  passed  on  to  the  interior,  and  mingled  with  the 
Gsetulians,  and  in  after  times  were  known  as  Numidians, — whereas 
those  who  remained  upon  the  coast  intermarried  with  Libyans,  and 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


in  course  of  time,  by  a  corruption  of  their  language,  Medi,  in  the 
barbarous  dialect  of  Libya,  became  Mauri—  now  Moor. 

To  the  foregoing,  digested  from  Hiempsal,  as  given  by  Sallust, 
we  may  add  :  —  To  this  amalgamation  was  also  adjoined,  from  time 
to  time,  large  parties  of  adventurers  from  the  Hebrews,  Greeks, 
Romans,  and  from  almost  every  part  of  Europe,  which  were  all 
absorbed  by  the  native  masses  ;  and  between  the  years  850  and 
860,  large  masses  of  the  Scandinavian  hordes  were  also  absorbed 
into  this  general  amalgam  of  the  races  of  man. 

The  instances  of  slavery,  and  the  laws  and  customs  of  the 
church  regulating  it,  as  presented  in  this  study,  with  few  excep 
tions,  have  pointed  to  the  case  where  the  white  races  have  been 
enslaved  or  have  enslaved  one  another;  where  no  strongly 
marked  physical  impediment  has  branded  amalgamation  with 
deterioration  and  moral  disgust;  nor  is  it  thought  necessary  to 
present  an  argument  to  prove  that,  under  such  a  state  of  facts,  the 
condition  of  Europe  at  the  present  moment  is  in  strict  conformity 
with  the  result  produced  by  the  unchangeable  laws  of  God  touch 
ing  the  subject. 

God  always  smiles  upon  the  strong  desire  of  moral  and  physical 
improvement.  Had  Europe  remained  under  deteriorating  influ 
ences  which  determined  her  moral  and  physical  condition  two 
thousand  years  ago,  her  condition  as  to  slavery  could  not  have 
changed.  Nor  is  it  seen  that  she  is  yet  in  so  highly  favoured  a 
condition  as  to  call  upon  her  the  providence  of  God,  charging  her 
with  the  pupilage  of  the  backslidden  nations  of  the  earth. 


LESSON  XXIII.' 

IT  has  been  heretofore  remarked  that  the  great  mass  of  the 
African  tribes  are  slaves  in  their  own  country,— that  slavery  there 
subjects  them  to  death  at  the  will  of  the  master,  to  sacrifice  in  the 
worship  of  their  gods,  and  to  all  the  evils  of  cannibalism  ;  and  yet  ii 
has  been  seen  that  even  such  slavery  is  a  more  protected  state 
than  would  be  a  state  of  freedom  with  their  religion,  and  other 
moral  and  physical  qualities.  History  points  not  to  the  time 
when  their  present  condition  did  not  exist,  nor  to  the  time  when 
their  removal,  in  a  state  of  slavery,  to  the  pagan  nations  of  Asia 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  385 


commenced.  Upon  the  adoption  of  Mohammedanism  there,  we 
find  the  black  tribes  of  Africa  succeeding  to  them  in  a  state  of 
slavery  ;  and  we  also  find,  and  history  will  support  the  assertion, 
that  in  some  proportion  as  the  slavery  of  these  tribes  was  adopted 
by  Christian  nations,  it  was  diminished  among  the  Mohammedans ; 
and  also,  that  as  the  slave-trade  with  Africa  was  abolished  by  the 
Christians,  it  was  increased  there  ;  and  also,  that  in  the  propor 
tion  it  has  been  extended  among  both  or  either  of  these  creeds  of 
religion  abroad,  it  has  been  invariably  ameliorated  at  home.  The 
causes  of  this  state  of  facts  seem  to  have  been  these  : — The  African 
slave-owner  found  his  bargain  with  the  Christian  trader  more  pro 
fitable  than  with  the  Mohammedan.  He  received  more  value,  and 
in  materials  more  desired  by  him  :  the  labour  of  the  slave  was  of 
more  value  in  America  than  Asia ;  and  the  transportation  to  the 
place  of  destination  was  attended  with  less  cruelty  and  hardship 
by  sea  than  by  land.  The  slave  of  the  African  owner  was 
increased  in  value  beyond  any  native  use  to  which  he  could  be 
applied,  by  reason  of  both  or  either  trade :  hence  the  slave  in  his 
native  land  became  of  greater  interest  and  concern.  The  native 
owner  ceased  to  kill  for  food  the  slave  whose  exportation  would 
produce  him  a  much  greater  quantity.  His  passions  were  curbed 
by  the  loss  their  indulgence  occasioned.  The  sacrifice  was  stayed 
by  a  less  expensive,  but,  in  his  estimation,  a  more  valuable  offering. 
The  object  of  our  present  inquiry  is,  whether  the  slavery  of  the 
African  tribes  to  the  followers  of  Mohammed  is  at  all  recognised  or 
alluded  to  by  the  inspired  writers.  The  fact  exists,  nor  can  it  be 
contested,  although  the  condition  of  the  African  slave  is  far  more 
degraded  among  the  Asiatics  and  Arabians  than  among  the  Chris 
tians,  but  that  even  there  it  is  far  more  elevated  than  in  his  native 
land.  "  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Shem,  and  Canaan  shall  be  his 
servant."  Gren.  ix.  26.  The  prophet  Daniel  was  a  captive  the 
greater  portion  of  his  life,  in  the  very  region  of  country,  and  among 
the  ancestors  of  the  Mohammedans  of  the  present  day,  and,  of  all 
the  prophets,  the  most  to  have  been  expected  to  have  been  en 
dowed  with  prophetic  gifts  in  relation  to  that  count  iy  and  its 
future  condition.  It  is  proper  also  to  remark  that  although  there 
is  in  many  instances  among  the  Mohammedans  of  the  present  day  a 
mixture  of  Japhanese  descent,  yet  their  main  stock  is  well  known 
to  be  Shemitic.  It  should  also  be  noticed  that  the  Shemites  have 
at  all  times  more  frequently  amalgamated  with  the  descendants  of 
Ham  than  those  of  Japhet,  consequently  more  liable  to  moral  and 


386  STUDIES   ON  SLAVERY. 

physical  deterioration ;  and  here,  indeed,  we  find  a  reason  why  it^r, 
was  announced  that  Japhet  should  possess  the  tents  of  Shem. 

Dan.  viii.  9  :  "  And  out  of  one  of  them  came  forth  a  little  horn, 
which  waxed  exceeding  great  towards  the  south,  and  towards  the 
east,  and  towards  the  pleasant  land.  10.  And  it  waxed  great, 
even  to  the  host  of  heaven,  and  it  cast  down  some  of  the  host  of 
the  stars  to  the  ground,  and  stamped  upon  them.  11.  Yea,  he 
magnified  himself  even  to  the  prince  of  the  host,  and  by  him  the 
daily  sacrifice  was  taken  away,  and  the  place  of  his  sanctuary  was 
cast  down.  12.  And  an  host  was  given  him  against  the  daily 
sacrifice  by  reason  of  transgression,  and  it  cast  down  the  truth  to 
the  ground,  and  it  practised  and  prospered.  23.  And  in  the  latter 
time  of  their  kingdom,  when  the  transgressors  are  come  to  the  full, 
a  king  of  fierce  countenance,  and  understanding  dark  sentences, 
shall  stand  up.  24.  And  his  power  shall  be  mighty,  but  not  by 
his  own  power :  and  he  shall  destroy  wonderfully,  and  shall  pros 
per,  and  practise,  and  shall  destroy  the  mighty  and  holy  people. 
25.  And  through  his  policy  also  he  shall  cause  craft  to  prosper  in 
his  hand,  and  he  shall  magnify  himself  in  his  heart,  and  by  peace 
shall  destroy  many :  he  shall  also  stand  up  against  the  Prince  of 
princes  ;  but  he  shall  be  broken  without  hand." 

Dan.  xi.  40  :  "  And  at  the  time  of  the  end  shall  the  king  of  the 
south  push  at  him,  and  the  king  of  the  north  shall  come  against 
him  like  a  whirlwind,  with  chariots,  and  with  horsemen,  and  with 
many  ships,  and  he  shall  enter  into  the  countries,  and  shall  over 
flow  and  pass  over.  41.  He  shall  enter  also  into  the  glorious 
land,  and  many  countries  shall  be  overthrown  ;  but  these  shall 
escape  out  of  his  hand,  even  Edom  and  Moab,  and  the  chief  of  the 
children  of  Ammon.  42.  He  shall  stretch  forth  his  hand  also 
upon  the  countries :  and  the  land  of  Egypt  shall  not  escape. 
43.  But  he  shall  have  power  over  the  treasures  of  gold  and  of  silver, 
and  over  all  the  precious  things  of  Egypt,  and  the  Libyans  and 
the  Ethiopians  shall  be  at  his  steps." 

Of  the  language  used  by  this  prophet,  it  is  proper  to  remark 
that  there  are  many  variations  from  the  more  ancient  Hebrew, 
both  as  to  form  of  expression  and  the  particular  words  used, 
among  which  Arabicisms  and  Aramacisms  are  quite  common. 
Faber  supposes  that  this  remarkable  vision  relates  to  the  history 
of  Mohammedanism  :  no  previous  theory  has  been  satisfactory  to 
the  Christian  world,  and  it  is  now  generally  believed  that  he  has 
suggested  a  correct  interpretation.  We  may  therefore  be  allowed 


STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 


38T 


to  follow  him  in  considering  it  as  descriptive  ot  the  rise  and  pro 
gress  of  that  religion. 

Mohammed  was  Jorn  at  Mecca.     His  education  was  contracted, 
and  his  younger  days  devoted  to  commercial  and  warlike  pursuits. 
By  his  marriage  with  the  widow  of  an  opulent  merchant,  he  rose 
to  distinction  in  his  native  city.     For  several  years  he  frequently 
retired  into  tha«3$ve  of  Hera  and  cherished  his  enthusiastic  senti 
ments,  till,  at  the  age  of  forty,  he  stated  that  he  had  held  communi 
cation  with  the  angel  Gabriel,  and  was  appointed  a  prophet  and 
apostle  of  God.     In  612,  he  publicly  announced  to  his  relations 
and  friends  that  he  had  ascended  through  seven  heavens  to  the 
very  throne  of  Deity,  under  the  guidance  of  Gabriel,  and  had  re 
ceived  the  salutations  of  patriarchs,  prophets,  and  angels.     This 
monstrous  statement,  however,  did  not  succeed,  except  with  a  very 
few ;  and  on  the  death  of  his  uncle  Abn  Taleb,  who  had  been  his 
powerful  protector,  he  was  compelled,  in  622,  to  seek  security  by 
flight  to  Medina.     This  henceforth  became  the  epoch  of  Moham 
medan  chronology ;  his  power  was  more  consolidated,  and  his  influ 
ence  extended  by  a  large  accession  of  deluded*  but  determined  fol 
lowers.   He  very  soon  professed  to  have  received  instructions  from 
the  angel  Gabriel  to  propagate  his  religion  by  the  sword;  and 
power  made  him  a  persecutor.     In  seven  years  he  became   the 
sovereign  of  Mecca,  and  this  led  to  the  subjugation  of  all  Arabia, 
which  was  followed  by  that  of  Syria.     In  less  than  a  century 
from  the  period  of  its  rise  in  the   barren  wilds  of  Arabia,  the 
Mohammedan  religion  extended  over  the  greater  part  of  Asia  and 
Africa,  and  threatened  to  seat  itself  in  the  heart  of  Europe. 

The  unity  of  God  was  the  leading  article  of  Mohammed's  creed. 
When  addressing  the  Jews,  he  professed  highly  to  honour  Abraham, 
Moses,  and  the  prophets,  and  admitted,  for  the  sake  of  conciliating 
Christians,  that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah  of  the  Jews,  and  will  be  the 
judge  of  all.  This  compromising  policy  is  seen  in  the  Koran. 

Mohammedan  morals  enforce  many  principles  of  justice  and 
benevolence,  and  inculcate  a  degree  of  self-denial,  but,  at  the  same 
time,  permit  the  indulgence  of  some  of  the  strongest  passions  of 
our  nature.  The  representations  given  of  paradise  are  adapted  to 
gratify  the  sensuality  of  men,— and  of  hell,  to  awaken  their  fears 
of  disobeying  the  Koran  or  the  prophet.  "  Eastern  Christendom," 
says  Mr.  Foster,  "  at  once  the  parent  and  the  prey  of  hydra-headed 
heresy,  demanded  and  deserved  precisely  the  inflictions  which  the 
rod  of  a  conquering  heresiarch  could  bestow.  The  king  of  fierce 


388 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


countenance,  and  understanding  dark  sentences,  well  expresses  the 
character  of  Mohammed  and  his  religion."  "  Mohammed,"  says 
Gibbon,  "with  the  sword  in  one  hand,  and  the  Koran  in  the 
other,  erected  his  throne  on  the  ruins  of  Christianity  and  of  Rome. 
The  genius  of  the  Arabian  prophet,  the  manners  of  his  nation,  and 
the  spirit  of  his  religion  involve  the  causes  of  the^decline  and  fall 
of  the  Eastern  empire,  and  our  eyes  are  curiously  ^itent  on  one  of 
the  most  memorable  revolutions  which  impressed  a  new  and  lasting 
character  on  the  nations  of  the  globe." 

His  first  efforts  were  directed  against  the  Jews,  who  refused  to 
receive  Mohammed's  effusions  as  the  revelations  of  heaven,  and,  in 
consequence,  suffered  the  loss  of  their  possessions  and  lives. 

"When  Christian  churches,"  says  Scott,  "  were  converted  into 
mosques,  the  'daily  sacrifice'  might  be  said  to  be  taken  away," 
(viii.  11, 12,)  and  the  numbers  of  nominal  Christians  who  were  thus 
led  to  apostatize,  and  of  real  Christians  and  ministers  who  perished 
by  the  sword  of  this  warlike,  persecuting  power,  fulfilled  the  pre 
diction  that  he  cast  down  some  of  the  host  and  of  the  stars  to 
the  ground,  and  striped  on  them.  It  is  said  that  "  a  host  was 
given  him  against  the  daily  sacrifice,"  (or  worship  of  the  Christian 
church,  corresponding  with  the  Jewish  sanctuary,)  "by  reason  of 
transgression."  A  rival  priesthood  subverted  the  priesthood  of  a 
degenerate  church.  The  imams  of  Mohammed  assumed  the  place 
of  the  apostate  teachers  of  Christianity.  The  event  here  pre 
dicted  was  to  occur  in  the  latter  part  of  the  Grecian  empire,  (ver.  23,) 
"when  the  transgressors  are  come  to  the  full." 

History  relates  that  the  remains  of  the  Eastern  empire  and  the 
power  of  the  Greek  church  were  overthrown  by  Mohammedans. 
Their  chief  endeavoured  to  diffuse  his  doctrine,  but  found  that  it 
could  not  prevail  by  "its  own  power,"  or  the  inherent  moral 
strength  of  the  system  :  it  was  requisite  to  support  his  pretensions 
by  "  craft"  and  "  policy."  Mohammed  sanctioned  as  much  of  the 
inspired  Scriptures  as  he  thought  might  tend  to  obviate  the  pre 
judices  of  the  Jews,  and  incorporated  as  much  of  his  own  system 
with  the  errors  of  the  Eastern  church  as  might  tend  to  conciliate 
Greek  Christians. 

"  Although  Mohammedism  did  not  first  spring  up  in  the  Mace 
donian    empire,  yet   it   now  spread    from  Arabia  to   Syria,  and 
occupied  locally,  as  well  as  authoritatively,  the  ancient  dominion 
of  the  he-goat."   (Scott.)     It  has  been  remarked,  however,  by  Mr. 
Foster,  (Mohammedism  Unveiled,)  that  the  part  of  Arabia  which 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  389 

included  the  native  country  of  Mohammed,  composed  an  integral 
province  both  of  the  empire  of  Alexander  and  of  the  Ptolemean 
kingdom  of  Egypt.  Ptolemy  had  Egypt,  Syria,  Arabia,  Caelo-syria, 
and  Palestine.  The  sovereignties  of  Egypt  and  Syria,  before  called 
the  king  of  the  south  and  the  king  of  the  north,  disappeared  when 
they  were  absorbed  in  the  Roman  empire,  and  the  new  power,  or  the 
Saracen  and  Turkish  empires,  that  succeeded,  are  now  brought  to 
view.  But  let  it  be  observed,  that  the  Saracens  became  masters  of 
Egypt,  the  original  territory  of  the  king  of  the  south,  and  the 
Turks  possessed  Syria,  or  the  kingdom  of  the  north,  and  still 
retain  it.  "  The  king  of  the  south  shall  push  at  him."  The  power 
of  Rome  was  overthrown  in  the  east  by  the  Saracens.  This  was 
the  first  wo  of  the  revelation,  which  was  to  pass  away  after  three 
hundred  years.  The  Turks  then  came,  a  whirlwind  of  northern 
barbarians,  and  achieved  a  lasting  conquest,  in  a  day,  of  the 
Asiatic  provinces  of  the  Roman  empire.  The  line  of  march  was 
along  the  north  of  Palestine,  and  the  Turkish  monarch  entered 
only  to  pass  through  and  overflow :  "  he  entered  into  the  glorious 
land;"  for,  as  Gibbon  has  stated  it,  the  most  interesting  conquest 
of  the  Seljukian  Turks  was  that  of  Jerusalem,  which  soon  became 
the  theatre  of  nations.  "But  Edom  and  Moab,  and  the  chief  of 
the  children  of  Ammon  escaped  out  of  his  hand."  Even  when  all 
the  regions  round  owned  the  Turkish  sway,  these  retained  their 
detached  and  separate  character,  and  even  received  tribute  from 
the  pilgrims  as  they  passed  to  the  shrines  of  Mecca  and  Medina. 
Thus  they  have  escaped  and  maintained  their  independence  of  the 
Porte.  A  race  of  monarchs  arose  to  stretch  out  their  hand  upon  the 
countries.  Othman,  Amurath,  Bajazet,  and  Mohammed  conquered 
nation  after  nation,  and  finally  fixed  the  seat  of  their  empire  at 
Constantinople.  The  land  of  Egypt  "  did  not  escape  ;"  it  was  in 
deed  the  last  to  yield ;  but,  though  its  forces  had  vanquished  both 
Christians  and  Turks,  it  was  at  length  subdued  by  Selim  I.  in  1517, 
and  came  into  possession  of  the  Ottomans.  (Cox,  on  Daniel) 
And  it  may  be  here  remarked,  as  a  fact  of  well-known  history,  that 
the  countries  known  as  Libya  and  Ethiopia  have,  at  all  ages  of 
the  world,  supplied  this  country  with  slaves,  whoever  may  have 
borne  rule,  and  still  continue  to  do  the  same.  Thousands  from 
the  interior  of  Africa  are  yearly  transplanted  from  the  slavery  of 
their  native  land  into  those  countries  now  under  Mohammedan 
rule.  And  it  may  be  well  here  for  the  Christian  philanthropist  to 
notice,  that  so  far  as  the  slave-trade  with  Africa  has  ceased  with 


390  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


Christian  nations,  to  the  same  extent  it  has  substantially  in- 
leased  with  Mohammedan  countries. 

"And  the  Libyans  and  the  Ethiopians  shall  be  at  his  steps," — a 
form  of  speech  as  clearly  indicating  the  condition  of  slavery  as 
though  ever  so  broadly  asserted.  The  Hebrew  word  here  trans 
lated  "at  his  steps,"  Vl^VP?  *n  ^s  footsteps,  &c.,  i.  e.  attached 
or  subjected  to  his  interests  as  slaves,  is  cognate  with  the  Arabic 

word  jJjLaXx>  metsuad,  and  means  the  chains  by  which  the  feet 
of  captive  slaves  are  bound,  and  in  Hebrew  form  this  word  is  used 

> 

in  Isa.  iii.  20,  nilJJV  tseadoth.  The  whole  passage  is  strictly  an 
Arabicism,  and  is  to  be  construed,  with  reference  to  that  language, 
chain  for  the  legs.  Of  this  passage,  Adam  Clark  says,  "  Uncon- 
quered  Arabs  all  sought  their  friendship,  and  many  of  them  are 
tributary  to  the  present  time."  Some  commentators  seem  to  un 
derstand  this  passage  to  mean  only  that  Libyans  and  Ethiopians 
would  be  in  courteous  attendance,  &c.  If  so,  the  Hebrew  would 
haveread,  asinJw^.iv.10,7^").  regel.  "  And  he  went  up  with  ten 
thousand  men  at  his  feet."  This  passage,  foretelling  the  slavery 
of  the  Ethiopians  to  the  Mohammedans,  may  well  be  compared 
with  Isa.  xlv.  14,  announcing  the  slavery  of  the  same  people  to 
those  of  the  true  religion.  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  labour  of 
Egypt  and  the  merchandise  of  Ethiopia  and  of  the  Sabeans,  men 
of  stature,  shall  come  over  unto  thee,  and  they  shall  be  thine  ;  they 
shall  come  after  thee,  in  chains  they  shall  come  over,  and  they 
shall  fall  down  unto  thee ;  they  shall  make  supplication  unto  thee, 
saying,  Surely  God  is  in  thee,  and  there  is  none  else,  there  is  no 
God"  beside. 


LESSON  XXIV. 

IN  reflection  upon  the  leading  ideas  that  present  themselves  in 
the  review  of  the  subjects  of  this  study,  we  may  notice  that 
slavery  has  been  introduced  to  the  world  as  a  mercy  in  favour  of 
life.  That,  in  its  operation,  its  general  tendency  is  to  place  the 
weak,  deteriorated,  and  degraded  under  the  control  and  govern 
ment  of  a  wisdom  superior  to  their  own ;  from  whence  the  intel 
lectual,  moral,  and  physical  improvement  of  the  enslaved,  to  some 
extent,  is  a  consequence  as  certain  as  that  cause  produces  its  effect. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  391 

The  world  never  has,  nor  will  it  ever  witness  a  case  where  the 
moral,  intellectual,  and  physical  superior  has  been  in  slavery,  as  a 
fixed  state,  to  an  inferior  race  or  grade  of  human  life.  The  law 
giving  superior  rule  and  government  to  the  moral,  intellectual, 
and  physical  superior  is  as  unchangeable  as  the  law  of  gravitation. 
No  seeming  exception  can  be  imagined  which  does  not  lend  proof 
of  the  existence  of  such  law.  The  human  intellect  can  make  no 
distinction  between  the  establisher  of  such  law  and  the  author  and 
establisher  of  all  other  laws  which  we  perceive  to  be  established 
and  in  operation,  and  which  we  attribute  to  God.  No  one  has 
ever  yet  denied  that  obedience  to  the  laws  of  God  effects  and 
produces  mental  and  physical  benefits  to  the  obedient,  or  that 
their  disregard  and  contempt  are  necessarily  followed  by  a  deteriora 
tion  of  the  condition  of  the  disobedient ;  nor  can  any  one  deny 
that  the  neglect  of  obedience  to  the  laws  of  God,  which,  in  its 
product,  yields  to  the  disobedient  mental  and  physical  deteriora 
tion,  or  any  one  of  them,  is  sin, — and  in  proportion  to  its  magnitude, 
so  will  be  its  consequent  degradation.  To  be  degraded  is  sin,  be 
cause  the  law  is  improve.  No  one  will  pretend  that  the  relation 
of  master  and  slave  is  not  often  attended  with  sin  on  the  part  of 
the  master,  on  the  account  of  his  disobedience  to  the  law  of  God 
in  his  government  of  his  slave ;  or  on  the  part  of  the  slave,  on  the 
account  of  his  disobedience  to  the  same  law  in  his  conduct  towards 
his  master.  Therefore,  such  master  is  not  as  much  benefited,  not 
the  slave  as  much  improved  by  the  relation,  as  would  otherwise  be 
the  case.  It  is  therefore  incumbent  on  the  master  to  search  out 
and  exclude  all  such  abuses  from  the  intercourse  and  reciprocal 
duties  between  him  and  his  slave.  Placed  upon  him  is  the  respon 
sible  charge  of  governing  both  himself  and  his  slave.  The  re 
sponsibility  of  the  master  in  this  respect  is  of  the  same  order  as 
that  of  a  guardian  and  that  of  a  parent. 

The  want  of  a  less  affectionate  regard  in  the  master  towards  the 
slave  is  supplied  and  secured  to  the  safety  of  the  slave  by  the  in 
creased  watchfulness^  of  the  master  over  the  slave  from  the  con 
sideration  that  the  slave  is  his  property.  For  where  affection  can 
not  be  supposed  sufficiently  strong  to  stimulate  a  calm  and  wise 
action,  interest  steps  in  to  produce  the  effect. 

That  every  mind  will  see  and  comprehend  these  truths,  where 
prejudice  and  education  are  in  contradiction,  is  not  to  be  expected. 
The  influences  of  a  false  philosophy  on  the  mind,  like  stains  of 
crime  on  the  character,  are  often  of  difficult  removal.  Some  for- 


392  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


bearance  towards  those  who  honestly  entertain  opposing  ideas  on 
this  subject,  can  never  disgrace  the  Christian  character, — and  we 
think  it  particularly  the  duty  of  the  men  of  the  South,  towards  the 
men,  women,  and  children  of  the  Northern  States,  especially  of  the 
unlearned  classes.  For  even  among  ourselves  of  the  South,  we 
sometimes  hear  the  announcement  of  doctrines  that  declare  all  the 
most  rabid  fanatic  at  the  North  need  claim,  on  the  subject  of  imme 
diate  abolition.  We  refer  to  and  quote  from  Walker's  Keports 
of  Cases  adjudged  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Mississippi,  at  the 
June  term,  1818,  page  4.2  :  "  Slavery  is  condemned  by  reason  and 
the  laws  of  nature."  This  false  and  suicidal  assertion,  most  un 
necessarily  and  irrelevantly  introduced,  still  stands  on  the  records 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  that  State,  and  is  an  epitaph  of  the  in 
capacity  and  stupidity  of  him  who  wrote  it  and  engraved  it  on  this 
monument  of  Southern  heedlessness.  We  were  at  first  surprised 
at  the  silence  of  the  reporter,  but,  at  that  day,  any  criticism  by 
that  officer  would  have  been  contempt.  Yet  we  may  infer  that  the 
ingenious  and  talented  gentleman  contrived  to  express  his  most 
expunging  reprobation,  by  wholly  omitting  all  allusion  to  the  point 
in  his  syllabus  of  the  case. 

If  in  the  course  of  these  Studies  we  shall  not  have  shown  that 
slavery  as  it  exists  in  the  world  is  commanded  by  "reason"  and 
the  laws  of  "nature,"  we  shall  have  laboured  in  vain;  and  even 
now  an  array  of  battle  is  formed,  and  our  enemy  has  chosen  hu 
man  "reason"  for  the  "bolt  of  Jove,"  as  wrought  from  strands 
of  Northern  colds,  Southern  heats,  and  Eastern  winds ;  in  their 
centre,  bound  by  cloudy  fears  and  avenging  fires  ;  for  their  aegis, 
61  the  laws  of  nature'  supply  Minerva's  shield,  upon  which  fanati 
cism  has  already  inscribed  its  government  over  thirty  States,  far 
exceeding  in  purity,  they  think,  that  of  the  God  of  Israel.  And 
we  have  come  up  to  the  war! — armed  neither  with  the  rod  of 
Hermes  nor  the  arrows  of  Latona's  son ;  but  with  a  word  from 
him  of  Bethlehem  :  "  Sanctify  them  through  thy  truth;  thy  word 
is  truth." 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  393 


V. 


LESSON  I. 

THE  inquirer  after  truth  has  two  sources  by  which  he  can  arrive 
at  some  knowledge  of  the  will  of  God : — 1st.  By  faith  and  reve 
lation  ;  2d.  By  the  observance  of  the  facts  uniformly  developed 
in  the  material  and  moral  world.  The  accuracy  of  his  knowledge 
will  be  coincident  with  the  accuracy  of  the  mental  perceptions  and 
the  extent  of  the  research  of  the  inquirer. 

In  the  Bible  he  will  find  the  declarations  of  God  himself:  some 
of  them  are  express,  and  some  of  them  implied. 

In  the  second  place,  he  may  discover  the  will  of  God  from  the 
arrangement  of  his  works  as  manifested  in  the  visible  world. 
Some  call  this  the  light  of  nature ;  others  the  laws  of  nature. 
But  what  do  they  mean  other  than  the  light  and  laws  of  God  ? 
Are  not  the  laws  of  gravitation  as  much  the  laws  of  God  as  they 
would  be  if  set  down  in  the  decalogue,  although  not  as  important 
to  man  in  his  primary  lessons  of  moral  duty  ? 

Let  us  view  the  forest  as  planted  by  the  hand  of  God :  we  see 
some  trees  made  to  push  their  tall  boughs  far  above  the  rest; 
while  others,  of  inferior  stem  and  height,  seem,  to  require  the  par 
tial  shade  and  protection  of  their  more  lofty  neighbours ;  others, 
of  still  inferior  and  dwarfish  growth,  receive  and  require  the  full 
and  fostering  influence  of  the  whole  grove,  that  their  existence 
may  be  protected  and  their  organs  fully  developed  for  use. 

Let  us  view  the  tribes  of  ocean,  earth,  and  air:  we  behold  a 
regular  gradation  of  power  and  rule,  from  man  down  to  the  atom. 

Whether  with  reason  or  with  instinct  blest. 
All  enjoy  that  power  that  suits  them  best: 
Order  is  Heaven's  first  law  ;  and  this  confess'd, 
Some  are,  and  must  be,  greater  than  the  rest — 


394  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

More  rich,  more  wise ;  but  who  infers  from  hence 

That  such  are  happier,  shocks  all  common  sense. 

Heaven  to  mankind  impartial  we  confess, 

If  all  are  equal  in  their  happiness ; 

But  mutual  wants  this  happiness  increase. 

All  nature's  difference,  keeps  all  nature's  peace : 

Condition,  circumstance,  is  not  the  thing ; 

Bliss  is  the  same,  in  subject,  or  in  king! 

POPE'S  Essay. 


LESSON  II. 

THEY  who  study  even  only  such  portion  of  the  works  of  God 
as  can,  seemingly,  to  some  extent  be  examined  by  the  human  mind, 
never  fail  to  discover  a  singular  affinity  between  all  things,  the 
creation  of  his  hand.  This,  to  us,  would  be  proof,  independent  of 
inspiration,  that  one  Creator  made  the  whole  world  and  all  things 
therein. 

So  great  is  the  affinity  between  the  vegetable  and  animal  king 
doms,  that  it  is  to  this  day  a  doubt  where  the  one  terminates  or 
where  the  other  begins.  Naturalists  all  agree  that  they  both  spring 
from  "  slightly  developed  forms,  perhaps  varied,  yet  closely  con 
nected  ;"  true,  "starting  away  in  different  directions  of  life,"  but 
ever  preserving,  it  may  be  an  obscure,  yet  a  strict  analogy  to  each 
other. 

These  analogies  are  sufficiently  obvious  to  prove  that  one  power, 
one  and  the  same  general  law,  has  brought  them  both  into  existence. 
Thus  the  devout  worshipper  of  God  may,  in  some  sense,  view  the 
vegetable  inhabitants  of  the  earth  as  his  brethren. 

The  animal  kingdom  may  be  considered  as  divisible  into  five 
groups.  The  vertebreta,  annulosa,  (the  articulata  of  Cuvier,)  the 
radiata,  the  acrita,  (in  part  the  radiata  of  Cuvier,)  and  the  molusca. 

Each  one  of  these  groups  will  be  found  divisible  into  five  classes. 
Let  us  take,  for  example,  the  vertebreta,  and  it  is  readily  divided 
into  the  mammalia,  reptilia,  pisces,  amphibia,  and  aves. 

So  each  one  of  these  classes  is  divisible  into  five  orders.  Let 
us  take,  for  example,  the  mammalia ;  and  it  is  readily  divided  into 
the  cheirotheria,  (animals  with  more  or  less  perfect  hands,)  ferae, 
cetacea,  glires,  and  ungulata. 

So  each  one  of  these  orders  is  divisible  into  five  genera.    Let  us 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  395 

take,  for  example,  the  cheirotheria,  and  it  is  readily  divided  into 
the  bimana  or  homo,  the  quadrumana  or  simiadse,  the  natatorials 
or  Yespertilionidse,  the  suctorials  or  lemuridse,  the  rasorials  or 
cebidae. 

So  each  one  of  these  genera  is  divided  in  five  species.  Let  us 
take,  for  example,  the  bimana  or  homo,  and  it  is  readily  divided 
into  the  Caucasian  or  Indo-European,  the  Mongolian,  the  Malayan, 
the  Indian  or  aboriginal  American,  and  the  Negro  or  African. 

Thus  we  behold  man  in  his  relation  to  the  animal  world :  true, 
far  in  advance  as  to  his  physical  and  mental  development ;  yet  the 
natural  philosopher  finds  traces  of  all  his  mental  powers  among  the 
inferior  animals,  as  does  the  comparative  anatomist  those  of  his 
physical  structure. 

Does  he  feel  degraded  by  the  fact  that  God  has  been  pleased  to 
order  this  relation  of  brotherhood  with  the  lower  orders  of  crea 
tion  ?  Or  will  he  for  ever  suffer  his  pride  to  hedge  up  the  way  of 
progress  by  the  impassable  darkness  of  his  own  ignorance. 

The  uniformity  of  these  penta-legal  ramifications,  which  reach 
down  from  man  through  all  the  orders  and  groups  of  the  animal 
world,  gives  evidence  of  a  preconceived  design — of  an  arrangement 
by  Almighty  power — of  a  God  whose  thought  is  law  ! — while  the 
analogy  of  animal  formation,  the  traces  of  affinity  in  the  mental 
qualities  found  in  all,  in  proportion  as  those  qualities  are  more  or 
less  developed,  and  the  apparent  adaptation  of  each  one  to  the 
condition  in  which  it  is  found,  demonstrate  the  unity  of  the  law 
which  governs  their  physical  being. 

These  analogies,  found  to  exist  between  all  the  individuals  of  the 
animal  world,  and  particularly  striking  and  more  and  more  obvious 
as  we  proceed  from  a  particular  group  to  its  genera  and  species, 
have  led  some  philosophers  to  suppose  that  the  more  perfectly  de 
veloped  species  have  been  progressively  produced  by  some  instance 
of  an  improved  development,  as  an  offshoot  from  the  genera,  and 
so  on  back  to  its  original  form  of  animal  life,  in  obedience  to  the 
laws  of  the  great  First  Cause.  But  we  wish  to  disturb  no  man's 
philosophy.  We  deem  it  of  little  importance  to  us  what  method 
God  pursued  in  the  creation  of  our  species ;  whether  we  were 
spoken  instantly  into  life,  as  was  the  light,  or  whether  ages  were 
spent  in  reproducing  improved  developments  from  the  earlier  forms 
of  animal  life. 

In  either  case  we  see  nothing  contradictory  to  the  inspired 
writings  of  Meses.  Man  is  as  much  the  creation  of  God  through 


396  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


one  means  as  another.  The  wisdom  and  power  required  are  the 
same  ;  for  his  existence  alone  demonstrates  him  to  be  the  work  of 
^•God.  The  fact  of  tne  existence  of  these  analogies  is  alone  what 
we  propose  to  notice.  And  we  offer  them  merely  as  indications  of 
a  course  of  study  that  may  lead  to  some  important  results  in  eluci 
dation  of  the  mental  and  physical  relations  between  the  different 
varieties  of  man. 

In  further  illustration,  let  us  for  a  moment  look  at  the  bovine 
species,  from  the  genus  ruminantia,  from  the  order  ungulata,  and 
we  find  the  ox,  the  bison,  the  buffalo,  the  elk,  and  the  goat. 

Like  the  five  species  of  homo,  we  find  the  bovine  species  divided 
into  a  great  number  of  families  or  varieties,  of  which  we  need  take 
no  further  notice.  Does  any  one  fail  to  perceive  the  analogy  be 
tween  these  species  of  the  bos  ?  Are  they  more  obscure,  more 
aberrant  than  are  the  relations  between  the  Species  of  man  ?  Ex 
amine  the  high  physical  development  of  the  most  intellectual 
Cauca-sian ;  trace  down  the  line  to  the  diminutive  and  ill-formed 
cannibal  savage  of  Africa,  the  habits  and  mental  development  of 
whom  would  seem  rather  allied  to  the  lower  orders  of  animals  than 
to  the  Caucasian!  How  will  it  comport  with  the  general  .laws 
manifested  by  the  condition  of  the  animal  world  and  of  the  obvious 
inferiority  and  influence  of  one  over  another,  in  proportion  to  their 
apparent  superiority  in  physical  and  mental  development,  to  place 
the  lowest  grade  of  the  African  in  equal  power  or  in  control  of 
the  Caucasian  brother  ?  Is  there  any  manifestation  of  the  Creator 
of  an  arrangement  like  this,  even  through  the  eternity  of  his  own 
work  ? 

On  the  contrary,  through  the  whole  animal  race,  we  find  power 
and  control  lodged  everywhere  in  proportion  as  we  find  an  advance 
towards  perfection  in  the  development  bestowed. 

In  conformity  to  this  law,  God  gave  Adam  "dominion"  over 
every  living  thing  that  moved  upon  earth. 

It  is  known  to  most  men,  that,  under  certain  circumstances,  the 
race  of  any  animal  will  improve  :  so  also,  under  adverse,  they  de 
generate.  We  see  these  facts  daily  in  the  breeds  of  domestic 
animals.  We  see  these  changes  even  in  the  families  of  all  the 
species  of  man.  Nor  is  it  a  matter  of  the  least  importance  to  our 
inquiry,  whether  these  species  of  the  race  have  been  produced  by 
an  upward  movement  from  the  lowest,  or  a  downward  degenerating 
movement  from  the  most  elevated.  It  is  sufficient  that  they  exist 
from  some  cause ;  for  an  individual  having  been,  say  an  equal, 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  397 


but  now  degenerate,  falls  under  the  influence  and  control  of  his 
superior.  And  in  conformity  to  this  law,  it  was  announced  to  Eve, 
the  helpmate  of  Adam,  that  "he  shall  rule  over  thee." 

But  if  these  particles  of  inspiration  had  never  been  proclaimed, 
man  would  have  discovered  this  law  from  its  constant  operation, 
not  only  on  the  family  of  man,  but  on  every  branch  of  the  animal 
world. 

We  can  spend  but  little  time  with  such  infidel  principles  as  lead 
some  men  to  say,  "  Down  with  your  Bible  that  teaches  slavery."  "  If 
the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  allows  slavery,  the  New  Testament  is 
the  greatest  curse  that  could  be  inflicted  on  man."  "  Down  with 
your  God  who  upholds  slavery ;  he  shall  be  no  God  of  mine." 
"Jesus  Christ  was  himself  a  negro  !"  Our  hearts  bleed  when  we 
see  such  evidence  of  a  destroyed  intellect.  The  maniac  in  his 
ravings  excites  our  extreme  sorrow.  We  feel  no  harshness.  He 
has  sunk  far  below  resentment.  Can  we  administer  to  such  mental 
deformity  any  relief?  Will  it  be  absurd  to  ask  him  to  deduce 
from  nature,  as  it  is  found  to  operate,  that  the  various  grades 
of  subjection  spread  through  the  animal  world  exist  in  conformity 
to  the  natural  law  ? 

But,  says  the  querist,  "Your  remarks  have  a  tendency  towards 
the  conclusion, — upon  the  supposition  that  Adam  was  created  with 
a  perfect,  or  rather  with  a  very  high  order  of  physical  organiza 
tion  and  mental  development, — that  the.  facts  of  the  greater  or 
less  degeneration  of  the  people  of  the  world,  since  his  fall,  now 
exhibited  by  the  different  species  of  man  upon  the  earth,  had  their 
origin  in  his  transgression.  Now,  by  parity  of  argument,  we  may 
conclude,  if  such  high  physical  elevation  was  the  original  condition 
of  Adam,  that  each  Cronus  of  the  brute  creation  also  was  origin 
ally  created  on  a  piuportional  scale.  If  so,  their  degeneration 
is  quite  as  visible  as  that  of  man.  Yet  we  have  no  account  that 
they  committed  sin  and  'fell.' ?: 

We  do  not  say  that  such  was  the  original  condition  of  the  first 
man..-,,  We  say,  the  creation  of  the  animal  world  was  upon  princi 
ples  compatible  with  progressive  improvement;  and  that- as  far  as 
these  principles  are  not  obeyed,  but  changed  or  reversed  by  the 
practice  of  the  animal  world,  that  the  effect  is  to  remain  stationary, 
or  to  retrograde  and  deteriorate. 

It  is  a  matter  of  no  importance  to  our  argument  what  was  the 
first  condition  of  Adam.  But  allow  it  to  be  as  querist  has  stated: 
We  answer,  the  Bible  was  given  to  man  for  his  moral  govern- 


398  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


ment;  not  to  teach  him  geology,  chemistry,  or  other  sciences. 
Such  matters  were  left  for  him  to  attain  by  progressive  improve 
ment.  A  minute  history  of  the  brute  creation,  or  any  portion  of 
it,  from  the  earliest  dawn  of  animal  life  up  to  the  time  of  revela- 
tionj  other  than  the  announcement  of  their  creation  and  subjection 
to  hi^fj  was  irrelevant.  But  man  was  the  very  head  and  governor 
ef  the  whole  animal  race.  Now,  who  is  to  say  that  the  degenera- 
Ifon  of  the  ruler  Will  not  produce  a  change  of  conduct  in  the 
ruled  ?  Who  is  to  say  that  the  poisoned  moral  feeling  of  him  in 
command,  breaking  fo?th  in  acts  of  violence  on  all  around,  will 
not  produce  a  corresponding  effect  on  the  animate  objects  under 
him  ?  Witness  the  effect,  we  need  not  say  on  children,  but  on 
domestic  animals,  of  the  rash,  cruel,  and  crazy  treatment  of  a 
wfcked  and  inconsistent  man  ? 

*  The  idea  that  the  brute  creation  were  injured  in  condition  by 
the  fall  of  man  is  put  forth  by  St.  Paul,  in  Rom.  viii.  9-22,  where 
the  word  "creature"  is  translated  from  the  Greek  term  that  im 
plies  the  whole  animal  or  the  whole  created  world.  But  no  an 
swer  to  querist  is  necessary.  The  fact  is  sufficient  that  animals, 
under  habits  ill-adapted  to  their  organization,  do  degenerate. 


'  LESSON  III. 

HOWEVER  insensible  individuals  themselves  may  be  of  the  fact, 
some  men,  and  those  of  quite  different  character,  find  it  un 
pleasant  to  submit  themselves  to  the  great  Author  of  animal  life. 
For  they,  in  substance,  make  a  continual  inquiry,  How  is  it  to  be 
reconciled  that  a  Being  so  perfectly  good  should  have  admitted 
into  the  midst  of  his  works,  as  a  constant  attendant  of  all  his 
sentient  creations,  so  large  an  admixture  of  what  we  call  evil  ? 

We  might  continue  the  inquiry  by  adding,  Why,  in  a  mere  drop 
of  water,  do  we  find  the  animalcule  manifesting  all  the  agonies 
and  repeating  the  outrages  upon  one  another  strikingly  visible 
among  the  larger  animal  developments  of  the  great  ocean  and  of 
the  land  ?  Why  such  an  admixture  of  pain  and  misery  among 
men?  Why  the  male  of  all  animals  making  destructive  war  on 
their  kind  ?  Why  exterminating  wars  among  men  ?  And  wny 
the  numberless,  nameless  evils  everywhere  spread  through  the 
world  ? 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  399- 

And  do  we  forget  that  the  great  Creator  of  animal  life  brought 
forth  his  works  and  sustains  each  thing  by  the  unchangeable  ex 
ercise  of  his  laws  ?  Laws  which  are  found  to  have  a  direct  ten 
dency  to  progressive  improvement  ?  Will  rational  beings  expect 
God  to  change  their  actions,  to  suit  their  disregard  of  them  ?  Will 
fire  cease  to  burn  because  we  may  choose  to  thrust  in  the  <and  ? 
And  what  if,  even  in  all  this,  we  shall  discover  his  wisdom  ^and 
goodness  by  making  what  we  may  call  punishment  for  the  bre'ach 
of  the  law,  a  pulling  back  from  deeper  misery,  a  powerful  stimulus* 
for  a  change  of  direction  from  a  downward  to  .an  upward  mover 
ment  in  the  path  of  progressive  improvement  ?  Do  we  find  no 
satisfaction  in  this  view  of  the  constitution  of  nature,  of  the 
wisdom  of  God  ?  t 

These  men  seem  desirous  that  the  works  of  God  should  have 
been  on  a  different  footing,  or  that  every  thing  should  have  been  * 
at  once  perfect  to  the  extent  of  his  power.  Would  they  then  de 
sire  to  be  his  equal  too  ?  But,  at  least  as  to  man,  the  mind  inca 
pable  of  error,  the  body  of  suffering  !  It  is  possible  that  under  such 
a  dispensation,  our  mental  enjoyments  would  have  been  on  a  par 
with  a  mathematical  axiom,  and  our  bodies  have  about  as  much  sym 
pathy  for  the  things  around  them  as  has  a  lump  of  gold.  And 
how  do  they  know  that  the  rocks,  minerals,  and  trees,  yea,  the 
starry  inhabitants  of  the  firmament,  are  not  the  exact  mani 
festations  of  what  would  have  been  creations  of  that  order  ?  We 
will  not  stop  here  to  inquire  how  far  the  complaints  of  these"  men 
operate  to  their  own  mental  and  physical  injury. 

It  is  a  great  popular  error  to  suppose  all  of  our  own  species  to 
be  born  equals.  It  involves  the  proposition  that  each  one  also 
possesses  the  same  faculties  and  powers,  and  to  the  same  extent. 
Even  every  well-informed  nursery-maid  is  furnished  with  a"  good 
refutation.  The  grades  of  physical  development  are  proofs  of 
grades  of  mind. 

Through  the  whole  animal  world,  as  with  man,  mental  action 
takes  place,  providing  for  the  sustenance  and  security  of  life ;  and 
the  amount  of  mental  power  each  one  possesses  is  ever  in  propor 
tion  to  the  development  of  the  nervous  system  and  animal  struc 
ture.  Upon  this  earth,  the  highest  grade  of  such  development 
is  found  among  the  Caucasian  species  of  man.  Physiologists 
assert  that  the  Aft^n  exhibits,  in  maturity,  the  imperfect  brain 
&c.  of  a  Caucasian  foetus  some  considerable  time  before  its  birth : 
so  the  Malay  and  Indian,  the  same  at  a  period  nearer  birth ;  while 


400  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

the  Mongolian,  that  of  the  infant  lately  born.  See  Lloyd's  Popu- 
lar  PJujsiolog*}?^  The  beard,  among  men  the  attribute  of  a  full 
maturity,  largg^  in  tb^e  Caucasian,  is  scarcely  found  among  the 
lower  grades  of  the  African. 

Colour  is  also  found  the  darkest  where  the  development  is  the 
least  perfect,  and  the  most  distant  from  the  Caucasian ;  and  hence 
a  philosopher    of   great  learning  makes  the   question   pertinent, 
"  May  not  colour  then  depend  on  development  also  ?     Develop 
ment  being  arrested  at  so  immature  a  stage  in  the  case   of  the 
negro,  the  skin  may  take  on  , the  colour  as  an  unavoidable^  conse 
quence  of  its  imperfect? organization."   -The  different  species  and 
all  the  varieties  of  man  are  nothing  but  a  short  history  of  their 
different  grades  of  organization  and  development.     One  fraction, 
by  a  long  and  more;0*4ess  strict  observance  of  the  laws  of  nature, 
becomes,  affee^nany  generations,  quite  improved  in  its   organiza 
tion.     From  an  opposite  course,  another  fraction  has  degenerated 
and  sunk  into  degradation.     It  is  now  a  well-known  fact  that  Cau 
casian  parents  too  nearly  related  exhibit  offspring  of  the   Mon 
golian  type.     So,  a  partk^ilar  tribe  of  Arabs,  now  on  the  banks 
of  the  Jordan,  from  an  ifcimd-in  propagation  have  become  scarcely 
to  be  distinguished  from  --Negroes.     This  is  only  an  instance,  but  is 
important  when  we  notice  the  deteriorating  influence  such  inter 
course  has  among   domestic   animals.     In  short,  every  breach  of 
the  laws  tending  to  the  path  of  progressive  improvement  must 
have 'a  deteriorating  effect  on  the  offspring.     There  was  truth  m 
the  ancient  adage,  "  The  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes  and  the 
children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge.'*'. 

Every  private  habit  and  circumstance  in  life  that  enervates  or 
deranges    thfe   physical  system,   or  disturbs   the   balance   of  the 
mind,'  stamps  its  impress  on  the  descendant.     The   moral  and 
physical   condition    of  th6;,jM#geny,   with   slight   exceptions  the 
result  of  an  elevating  and  upward  movement,  or  a  downward  and 
deteriorating  one,  (as  the  .ease  may  be,)  is  the  necessary  result  o 
the  moral  and  physical  condition  of  the  parentage  :  and  this  mfli 
ence  is  doubtless  felt  back  for  many  generations. 

But  does  God  make  man  wicked  ?  does  he  predestine  to  ^evi 
These  queries  may  seem  pertinent  to  some",  because  we  are  in  the 
habit  of  considering  each  individual  by  itself;  whereas  each  indi 
vidual  is  only  a  link  in  the  chain  of  phenorn^,  which  owe  then 
existence  to  laws  productive  of  good,  and  everijof  progressive  im 
provement,  but  of  necessity,  in  their  breach,  admit  these 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  40] 

because  such  breach  is  sin.  Our  moral  faculties  are  permitted  to 
range  in  a  wide  field ;  but  evil  is  the  result  of  a  disruption  of  the 
rules  of  action.  It  is  the  flaming  sword  elevated  to  guard  our 
good,  showing  us  the  awful  truth,  the  mere  bad  habit  in  the 
parent  may  become  a  constitutional  inherent  quality  in  the  off 
spring. 

We  do  not  suppose  these  influences  always  very  perceptibly 
immediate.  Many  generations  are  doubtless  often  required  in  the 
full  development  of  an  upward  movement  to  a  higher  order  of 
moral  perception ;  and  so  in  the  opposite.  Yet  we  cannot  forbear 
to  notice  how  often  the  immediate  descendant  is  quite  apt  to  prove 
its  parentage. 

Will  the  theologian  object — "You  contradict  the  Scripture. 
You  make  five  species  of  man.  Whereas  they  are  all  the  de 
scendants  of  Noah."  Have  we  not  shown  ample  ground  and 
time  IOY  their  formation  from  his  stock  ?  Besides,  we  expect 
hereafter  to  prove  by  Scripture  that  Ham  took  a  wife  from  the 
degenerate  race  of  Cain ;  which,  if  so,  would  alone  place  his  de 
scendants  in  the  attitude  of  inferiority  and  subjection. 

No  !  but  we  advertise  the  theologian  that  we  shall  take  the 
Scripture  for  our  platform.  We  believe  it,  and  hope  to  even  hold 
him  close  to  it. 

But  we  now  ask  for  the  reflection  of  all,  does  not  the  degene 
rate  man,  degraded  in  constitution  below  the  possibility  of  his 
emerging  from  the  depth  to  which  he  has  sunk,  by  any  self-reno 
vating  power,  still  lingering  about  his  reduced  condition,  require 
the  aid  of  one  of  superior  nature,  of  superior  organization  and 
mental  development,  to  act  as  his  adviser,  protector,  and  master  ? 
Would  not  such  a  provision  be  a  merciful  one  ? 

And  may  we  not  also  inquire,  whether  the  superior  endow 
ments  here  required  do  not  also  require  to  be  exercised  in  bear 
ing  rule  over  the  wayward  energies  of  those  more  degenerate,  as  a 
necessary  element  in  the  school  to  a  higher  advance  ?  And  shall 
we  not  perceive  that  such  a  relation  must  produce  a  vast  amount 
of  improvement  and  happiness  to  both  ? 

Children  and  inferior  persons  often  show  themselves,  upon  the 
slightest  temptation,  false  and  cruel, — often  the  inheritance  of 
parental  imperfection.  Absolute  command,  sustained  by  physical 
force,  has  alone  been  found  sufficient  to  eradicate  these  old,  and 
to  found  new  habits  of  truthfulness  and  humanity. 

True,  the  Scripture  asserts  that  all  men  a#e  equal  in  the  sight 


402  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

of  God,  just  as  a  father  feels  an  equal  parental  regard  for  all  his 
children.  The  philosophic  mind  cannot  well  conceive  otherwise 
than  that  God  feels  an  equal  regard  for  all  parts  of  his  creation ; 
for  "  The  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  endure  for  ever :  the  Lord  shall 
rejoice  un  his  work."  But  this  view  reaches  not  the  physical 
fact;  for  the  father  hesitates  not  to  place  a  guardian  over  his 
wayward  child,  or  disinherit  the  utterly  worthless.  So  God 
"  turneth  man  to  destruction  ;  and  sayeth,  Return,  ye  children  of 
men."  And  how  gladly  would  the  parent  provide  the  fatted  calf 
for  the  worthless  son  upon  his  return  to  honour  and  virtue !  So 
there  is  more  joy  in  heaven  over  the  return  of  one  sinner  than 
over  ninety-nine  who  have  not  gone  astray. 

The  mercy  of  God  shines  upon  the  world  in  floods  of  celestial 
light ;  for  Christianity,  in  its  passports  to  heaven,  judges  all  men 
by  their  own  acts.  Therefore,  the  most  degraded  nature,  upon 
a  sight  of  its  deformity,  may  feel  an  unchangeable  regret,  and 
inherit  its  portion. 

Here  Christianity  itself  points  the  way  to  progressive  improve 
ment,  and  commands  children  to  obey  their  parents,  wives  their 
husbands,  and  servants  their  masters. 

The  grace  of  God  is  as  openly  manifested  in  the  welfare  of  the 
child  or  slave,  when  produced  through  the  interposition  of  the 
parent  or  master,  as  if  the  interposition  had  been  more  immediate. 


LESSON  IV. 

INTELLECT  is  not  found  to  exist  only  in  connection  with  a  cor 
responding  physical  organization.  In  the  family  of  man,  if  that 
which  may  appear  a  good  organization  is  accompanied  by  an 
inferior  intellect,  we  may  suspect  our  nice  accuracy  of  discern 
ment,  rather  than  a  discrepancy  in  the  operation  of  the  general 
law ;  so  also  where  we  may  seem  to  perceive  a  good  intellect,  but 
which  produces  inferior  or  unworthy  results.  We  do  not  always 
notice  the  small  steps  of  degeneration.  Often  the  first  notice  we 
take  is  of  the  fact  of  a  changed  condition,  as  proved  by  the 
results  :  "By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them." 

The  idea  that  intellect  and  mental  development  can  be  inde 
pendent  of  physical  organization  is  an  absurdity.  A  suppressed 
or  incomplete  organization  must  arrest  a  further  enlargement  of 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  403 


the  mental  faculties.  These  faculties  may  be  improved,  brought 
into  action,  or  even  their  action  to  some  extent  suppressed,  by 
government  and  culture.  Such  indeed  are  the  guides  to  progres 
sive  improvement.  EXPLANATION  : — Man  has  no  organization  by 
which  he  could  build  a  honey-comb  like  a  bee.  Will  any  culture 
applied  to  him  teach  him  ?  Man  has  no  organization  by  which  he 
can  closely  examine  spiritual  existences :  his  ideas  about  them  are 
therefore  variant  and  confused.  Who  will  arrange  their  study  into 
a  science  ?  Man  has  no  organization  by  which  he  can  fully  com 
prehend  Grod.  Will  he  ever  do  so  in  his  present  state  ? 

Are,  then,  the  actions  of  the  child,  and  of  those  persons  whose 
mental  development  has  been  arrested  at  a  very  early  stage,  (as 
has  been  supposed  the  case  with  the  lower  orders  of  animals,  and 
of  those  animals  themselves,)  the  result  of  some  faculty  or  mental 
power  different  from  mind  ?  The  result  of  instinct  ?  And  what  is 
instinct  but  mind  in  the  early  dawn  of  its  development  ?  Are  not 
such  actions  as  the  chick  breaking  its  shell,  the  young-born  infant 
receiving"  its  natural  food,  the  necessary  consequents  of  the  state 
of  their  infantile  organization,  which  the  earliest  development  of 
mind  could  prompt  and  enable  them  to  put  forth ;  and  will  it  be 
deemed  beyond  the  reach  of  reason,  to  prove  that  with  the  differ 
ence  of  maturity  in  organization  and  development,  the  same 
general  connection  of  mind  and  organization  is  found,  through  the 
entire  of  life  as  well  as  infancy  ? 

Philosophers  have,  with  indefatigable  labour,  endeavoured  to 
enlighten  the  world  on  the  subject  of  instinct.  Can  we  be  par 
doned  if  we  suggest  that  their  theories  on  this  subject  signally 
prove  they  were  but  men?  Des  Cartes  says — "Brutes  are  ma 
chines  without  sensation  or  ideas  ;  that  their  actions  are  the  result 
of  external  force,  as  the  sound  of  an  organ  is  the  result  of  the 
air  being  forced  through  the  pipes."  This  is  his  "instinct."  If 
this  be  true,  then  it  follows  that  every  action  in  the  material 
world  is  instinct.  Then  the  thunder  utters  its  voice,  the  earth 
quakes,  and  the  telegraph  works  by  "instinct."  Yet,  his  theory 
has  found  an  advocate  in  that  very  classical  Latin  poem,  "And 
Lucretius,"  by  Cardinal  Polignac. 

Dr.  Reid  sustains  the  mechanical  nature  of  brutes,  but  classifies 
their  actions  into  those  of  habit  and  those  of  instinct. 

Dr.  Darwin  says  that  instinct  is  mental,  and  that  the  actions  of 
brutes  result  from  faculties,  the  same  in  nature  as  those  of  man, 
but  extremely  limited.  Smellie  takes  the  same  view.  Yet  Darwin 


404  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

asserts  that  instinct  is  the  reason ;  and  Smellie,  that  reason  is  the 
result  of  instinct.  Cudworth  says  that  instinct  is  an  intermediate 
power,  taking  rank  between  mind  and  matter,  yet  often  vibrating 
from  one  to  the  other.  Buffon  contends  that  brutes  possess  an 
intellectual  principle,  by  which  they  distinguish  between  pleasure 
and  pain,  and  desire  the  one  and  repel  the  other.  This  is  his 
instinct. 

Reimar  divides  instinct  into  three  classes :  mechanical,  such 
as  the  pulsation  of  the  heart;  representative,  such  as  result  from 
an  imperfect  kind  of  memory,  and,  so  far  as  it  is  memory,  in  com 
mon  with  mankind ;  and  spontaneous,  the  same  as  Buffon's. 
Cuvier  says  that  instinct  consists  of  ideas  that  do  not  result  from 
sensation,  but  flow  directly  from  the  brain  !  Dupont  says  that 
there  is  no  such  distinct  faculty  as  instinct.  His  views  are  ana 
logous  to  Darwin  and  Smellie. 

Pope,  Stahl,  and  others  say,  "It  is  the  divinity  that  stirs 
within  us." 

"  And  reason  raise  o'er  instinct  as  you  can, 
In  this  'tis  God  directs,  in  that  'tis  man." 

Cullen,  Hoffman,  and  others  say  that  instinct  is  the  "  vis 
medicatrix  naturae."  Dr.  John  Mason  Good  says  that  "  instinct  is 
the  law  of  the  living  principle,'"  that  "instinctive  actions  are  the 
actions  of  the  living  principle."  If  so,  instinct  is  as  applicable  to 
vegetables  as  to  animals. 

Dr.  Hancock,  in  his  work  on  the  Physical  and  Moral  Relations 
of  Instinct,  has  evidently  enlarged  on  the  doctrine  of  Pope  and 
Stahl.  He  says  instinct  is  the  "impulse,"  "the  inspiration  of  the 
Holy  Spirit;"  and,  in  his  own  words,  "which  we  can  only  regard 
as  an  emanation  of  Divine  wisdom." 

He  asserts  that  the  lower  we  descend  in  the  scale  of  animal 
organization  and  mental  development,  the  more  active  and  all- 
pervading  over  the  conduct  of  the  animal  is  instinct !  But, 
nevertheless,  holds  that  "instinct  is  in  such  animals  an  uncon 
scious  intelligence"  We  much  admire  why  he  did  not  think  pro 
per  to  cast  off  from  the  ancients  the  charge  of  a  puerile  idolatry, 
on  the  account  of  their  worship  of  bulls,  calves,  alligators,  snakes, 
beetles,  and  bugs,  for  they  must  have  entertained  a  somewhat  simi 
lar  notion.  But  the  doctor  goes  further,  and  says,  that  as  the 
lower  grades  of  the  animal  world  have  this  quality,  in  which  "the 
Divine  energy  seems  to  act  with  most  unimpeded  power,"  so  the 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  405 


holiest  of  men  has  it  also,  but  consciously  and  willingly,  and  it 
then  becomes  his  ruling  principle,  "Divine  counsellor,  his  never- 
failing  help,  a  light  to  his  feet,  and  a  lantern  to  his  path."  (Page 
513.)  It  is  quite  evident  that  the  doctor's  instinct  is  the  same 
with  the  "unerring  conscience,"  "the  innate  principle  of  light," 
"the  moral  sense,"  "the  spiritual  power,  "the  Divine  reason," 
"the  internal  teaching,"  "the  perfect  light  of  nature,"  and  "the 
Divine  afflatus"  of  the  theologico-abolition  speakers  and  writers 
of  the  present  day,  which,  they  say,  is  the  gift  of  God  to  every 
man.  This  strange  error  of  some  of  these  writers  we  have  already 
had  occasion  to  notice.  But  it  is  to  be  regretted,  for  the  good 
credit  of  religious  profession,  that  they  did  not  acknowledge  from 
whom  they  borrowed  the  idea;  or,  will  they  at  this  late  day, 
excuse  themselves,  and  frankly  acknowledge  they  took  it,  not 
from  Dr.  Hancock,  or  any  other  modern,  but  as  a  deduction  from 
the  practices  of  ancient  idolatry  ? 

Since  we  have  ventured  an  opinion  on  the  subject  of  instinct,  we 
trust  forgiveness  for  the  introduction  of  that  of  others. 

Our  desire  is  to  present  such  considerations  as  lead  to  the  con 
clusion  that  men  are  born  into  the  world  with  different  physical 
and  mental  aptitudes  :  in  short,  that  their  corporeal  and  intellectual 
organizations  are  not  of  equal  power ;  or,  if  some  prefer  the  term, 
that  their  instincts  are  not  of  equal  extent  and  activity. 

For  substantially,  upon  a  contrary  hypothesis,  are  founded  all 
those  beautiful  arguments  in  favour  of  the  entire  equality  of  man. 
Some  whole  systems  of  political  justice  are  founded  upon  the  pro 
position  that  there  is  no  innate  principle ;  and  one  class  of  phi 
losophers  argue  that,  as  there  is  no  innate  principle,  therefore 
all  men  are  ushered  into  the  world  under  the  circumstance  of  per 
fect  equality;  consequently,  all  the  inequality  afterwards  found 
is  the  result  of  usurpation  and  injustice. 

Do  they  forget  that  organization  itself  is  innate,  and  that  dif 
ferent  organizations  must  direct  the  way  through  different  paths? 
But  these  philosophers  still  persist  that  there  is  no  such  disparity 
among  the  human  race  whereby  the  inferiority  of  one  man  shall 
necessarily  place  him  in  subjection  to  another.  This  doctrine  is 
perhaps  confuted  by  practice  better  than  by  argument.  Counsellor 
Quibble  saw  his  client  Stultus  in  the  stocks,  on  which  he  cries  out, 
"It  is  contrary  to  law.  The  court  has  no  such  power.  They 
cannot  do  it."  Nevertheless,  Stultus  is  still  in  the  stocks  !  But 
what  would  it  avail,  even  if  all  men  were  born  equals  ?  Could 


406  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

they  all  stand  in  the  same  footsteps,  do  the  same  things,  think 
the  same  thoughts,  and  be  resolved  into  a  unit  ?  Who  does  not 
perceive  the  contrary  ? — but  that  from  their  birth  they  must  stand 
in  different  footsteps,  walk  in  different  paths,  think  different  things, 
and,  in  th'e  journey  of  life,  arrive  at  different  degrees  of  wealth, 
nonour,  knowledge,  and  power? 

Men  organized  into  some  form  of  government  cannot  be  equal ; 
because  the  very  thing,  government,  proves  the  contrary :  among 
perfect  equals,  government  is  an  impossibility.  If  laws  were  pre 
scribed,  they  could  never  be  executed  until  some  of  these  equals 
shall  have  greater  power  than  those  who  infringe  them.  Man  is 
never  found  so  holy  as  to  punish  himself  for  his  own  impulses. 
Thus  the  idea  of  government  among  equals  is  a  silly  fiction. 

Men  without  government  cannot  be  equal,  because  the  strong 
will  have  power  over  the  weak. 

The  inequality  of  men  is  the  progenitor  of  all  civil  compact.  One 
man  is  strong,  another  weak ;  one  wise,  another  foolish :  one  virtuous, 
another  vicious :  each  one  yielding  himself  to  a  place  in  the  com 
pact,  all  acquire  additional  protection,  especially  so  long  as  all 
shall  adhere  to  the  terms  of  the  compact.  But  the  compact  itself 
is  the  result  of  the  proposition  that  the  majority  shall  have  more 
power  than  the  minority,  because  they  are  supposed  to  have  more 
animal  force,  and  that  they  hold  the  evidence  of  a  more  lofty 
mental  development.  Here  has  sprung  forth  the  doctrine  that 
the  good  of  the  greater  part  is  the  good  of  the  whole:  hence, 
under  this  system,  an  opposing  fraction  is  often  sacrificed  to  the 
ruling  power.  We  must  here  remark  that  this  doctrine  was  changed 
at  an  early  day  into,  "  The  good  of  the  ruling  power  is  the  good 
of  the  whole." 

Although  not  a  part  of  our  study,  we  may  turn  aside  here  to 
remark  that,  from  this  monad  in  the  composition  of  the  doctrines 
of  government,  did  emanate  the  idea  of  all  those  strange  sacrifices 
that  now  deform  the  pages  of  ancient  idolatry.  In  its  aid  the 
idol  divinity  vouched  its  influence,  and  the  daughter  of  *Ham 
yielded  her  new-born  to  the  flaming  embraces  of  her  god.  Even 
now  the  ancient  sources  of  the  Ganges  still  pour  down  their  holy 
waters,  are  still  drinking  in  an  excessive  population  from  the  arms 
of  the  Hindoo  mother.  Nor  is  this  idea  only  an  ancient  thought ; 
it  is  not  half  ,a  century  since  it  was  broached  in  one  of  the  Eu 
ropean  parliaments  to  so  hedge  around  the  institution  of  marriage 
with  thorny  impediments,  that  none  excessively  poor  could  legally 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  407 

propagate.  But  to  our  minds  these  things  strangely  show  forth 
the  facts  that  prove  "men  are  not  equal." 

But  even  the  lowest  grades  yield  their  obedience,  and  are  pro 
tected  from  greater  evils.  Even  though  they  may  have  been  so  low 
as  to  have  not  been  able  to  take  any  part  in  the  formation  of  the 
compact,  yet  they  are  as  certainly  benefited  as  the  most  elevated. 

Such  has  been  the  condition  of  the  race  through  all  time,  while 
falsehood  has  often  mingled  in  her  ingredients,  adding  misery  to 
the  degradation  of  man  ; — for  it  is  truly  observable  that  falsehood 
has  for  ever  led  to  deeper  degradation,  to  an  increased  departure 
from  the  laws  of  civil  rule.  So  far  as  human  intellect  has  threaded 
its  way  along  the  path  of  truth  and  through  the  mazes  of  human 
depravity,  so  far  has  man  improved  his  condition  by  increasing  his 
knowledge  and  power, — while  a  reversed  condition  has  ever  at 
tended  a  retrograde  movement.  May  not  the  conclusion  then  be 
had,  such  is  the  ordinance  of  God  !  But  equality  among  men  is 
a  chimera,  not  possible  to  be  reduced  to  practice,  nor  desirable  if 
it,  could  be.  They  never  were  so,  nor  was  it  intended  they  ever 
should  be.  Cain  and  Abel  were  not  equal :  God  told  Cain  that  if 
he  behaved  well,  he  should  have  rule  over  Abel ;  but  if  he  did 
not,  he  should  suffer  the  consequences  of  sin.  "Who  art  thou 
that  repliest  against  God  ?  Shall  the  thing  formed  say  unto 
him  that  formed  it,  Why  hast  thou  made  me  thus  ?  Hath  not 
the  potter  power  over  the  clay,  of  the  same  lump  to  make  one 
vessel  to  honour  and  another  to  dishonour  ?"  Rom.  ix.  20,  21. 
"  Who  hath  made  thee  to  differ  one  from  another?"  1  Cor.  iv.  7. 
"  And  the  Lord  said  unto  her,  Two  nations  are  in  thy  womb ;  and 
two  manner  of  people  shall  be  separated  from  thy  bowels ;  and 
the  one  people  shall  be  stronger  than  the  other  people,  and  the 
older  shall  serve  (""OJ7*  ya  avod,  be  a  slave  to)  the  younger."  Cf-en. 
xxv.  23.  See  also  Rom.  ix.  12.  Can  the  inequality  of  man  be 
more  strongly  inculcated  ?  And  St.  Paul  seems  to  suggest  that 
such  inequality  will  exist  hereafter.  "  There  is  one  glory  of  the 
sun,  another  glory  of  the  moon,  and  another  glory  of  the  stars ; 
for  as  one  star  differeth  from  another  star  in  glory,  so  also  is  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead."  1  Cor.  xv.  41,  42. 

The  idea  that  the  souls  of  men  are  unequal  in  a  future  state  of 
existence  seems  to  be  consonant  with  the  faith  of  most  of  the 
Christian  churches.  "And  his  lord  said  unto  him,  Well  done, 
thou  good  and  faithful  servant :  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a 
few  things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many  things :  enter  thou 


408  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

into  the  joy  of  thy  lord.  For  unto  every  one  that  hath  shall  be 
given,  and  he  shall  have  abundance  ;  but  from  him  that  hath  not, 
shall  be  taken  away  even  that  he  hath ;  and  cast  ye  the  unprofitable 
servant  into  outer  darkness :  there  shall  be  weeping  and  gnash 
ing  of  teeth."  Matt.  xxv.  21,  29,  30. 

Some  politicians  say,  government  is  founded  on  opinion.  Be  it 
so ;  yet  opinion  is  predicated  upon  the  very  incidents  of  men's 
conduct,  which,  when  analyzed,  are  found  to  prove  their  inequality. 
So  also,  when,  by  the  aid  of  the  compact  formed,  one  individual 
holds  a  part  of  the  community  in  subjection,  such  extended  rule  is 
dependent  on  the  same  principles  as  the  elementary  case.  The 
truth  is,  human  society  never  recedes  far  from  elementary  influ 
ences,  notwithstanding  all  the  artificials  in  government  that  ever 
have  or  ever  can  be  brought  into  use.  The  conditions  to  govern 
and  to  be  in  subjection  necessarily  imply  superiority  and  inferior 
ity  :  change  these  relative  qualities,  and  the  condition  of  the  par 
ties  is  changed  also.  But,  upon  the  organization  of  society,  in  all 
countries  and  at  all  times,  we  find  inequality  in  the  conditions  of 
men,  growing  out  of  their  social  state ;  distinctions  between  them, 
affecting  their  personal  considerations,  and  often  disposing  of  them 
for  life.  Thus,  in  one  country  a  man  is  born  a  monarch,  in 
another  a  priest  of  the  Lord,  a  prince,  a  peer,  a  noble,  a  com 
moner,  a  freeman,  a  serf,  a  slave.  This  arrangement  of  the  con 
ditions  of  social  and  civil  life,  from  long  habit,  may  well  be  said 
to  become  constitutional,  and  necessary  to  the  happiness  of  that 
society,  although  thereby  one  may  seem  forced  to  be  a  tinker  and 
another  a  tailor.  Hence  we  infer,  inequality  among  men  is  the 
necessary  result  of  the  rules  of  civil  life. 


LESSON  V. 

JUSTICE,  as  a  general  term,  means  all  moral  duty.  One  of  its 
rules  is,  that  we  should  "love  our  neighbours  as  ourselves."  Some 
men  have  construed  this  to  include  each  individual  of  the  human 
family.  Such  construction  we  deem  to  be  error.  The  word 
"neighbour,"  as  here  used,  includes  those  virtues  which  render 
one  good  man  acceptable  to  another  and  to  God.  "  And  who  is 
my  neighbour?"  "  And  Jesus  answered  and  said,  A  certain  man 
went  down  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho,  and  fell  among  thieves,  which 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  4Q9 


stripped  him,  and  departed,  leaving  him  half  dead.  And  by  chance 
there  came  down  a  certain  priest  that  way,  and  when  he  saw  him, 
he  passed  by  on  the  other  side.  And  likewise  a  Levite,  when  he  was 
at  the  place,  came  and  looked  on  him,  and  passed  by  on  the  other 
side.  But  a  certain  Samaritan,  as  he  journeyed,  came  where  he 
was :  and  when  he  saw  him,  he  had  compassion  on  him,  and  went 
to  him  and  bound  up  his  wounds,  pouring  in  oil  and  wine,  and  set 
him  on  his  own  beast,  and  brought  him  to  an  inn,  and  took  care 
of  him.  And  on  the  morrow,  when  he  departed,  he  took  out  two 
pence,  and  gave  them  to  the  host,  and  said  unto  him,  Take  care 
of  him,  and  whatsoever  thou  spendest  more,  when  I  come  again  I 
will  repay  thee."  Luke  x.  30-36. 

Who  has  given  a  better  definition  of  the  word  neighbour  ?  And 
how  shall  we  esteem  him,  who,  instead  of  loving  such  an  one  as 
himself,  shall  treat  him  with  ingratitude,  fraud,  and  cruelty  ?  "  God 
is  angry  with  the  wicked  every  day."  Ps.  vii.  2.  If  to  "love  our 
neighbour  as  ourselves"  implies  that  we  should  love  all  men  equally 
alike,  it  also  necessarily  will  imply  a  subversion  of  order,  and  con 
sequently  lead  to  acts  of  injustice,  because  all  men  are  not  equal. 
u  For  if  any  provide  not  for  his  own,  and  especially  for  those  of  his 
own  house,  he  hath  denied  the  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an  infidel." 
1  Tim.  v.  8. 

It  would  be  ungrateful  and  unjust  to  not  save  a  parent  from 
death  in  preference  to  a  stranger — the  life  of  him  on  whom  the 
life  and  happiness  of  thousands  depended,  in  preference  to  an  ob 
scure  individual. 

One  man  may  be  of  more  value  to  me,  and  to  the  public,  than 
another,  because  he  is  further  removed  from  being  a  mere  animal. 
He  has  more  knowledge,  more  power,  and  does  dispense  more  hap 
piness  to  his  fellow-man. 

A  very  evil  man  and  a  good  one  may  be  in  the  vicinity  or 
elsewhere ;  but  to  regard  them  equally  alike  is  a  contradiction  of 
Christian  duty.  When  we  love  our  neighbour  as  ourselves,  we 
love  the  man,  his  acts,  his  character ;  but  when  we  are  taught  to 
love  our  enemies,  the  mind  reaches  him  as  a  creature  of  God,  our 
erring  fellow-mortal,  our  brother  steeped  in  sin — and  we  look 
upon  him  with  pity,  forgiveness ;  and  yet  hate  his  qualities  and 
conduct.  The  cases  are  quite  dissimilar.  "  Love  not  the  world, 
neither  the  things  that  are  in  the  world.  If  any  man  love  the 
world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him."  1  John  ii.  15. 


410  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


LESSON  VI. 

VIRTUE  is  always  an  appellant  to  justice.  It  is  manifested  by 
the  acts  of  an  intelligent  being  of  correct  and  benevolent  motives, 
contributing  to  the  general  good.  Consequently  an  act,  however 
benevolent  may  have  been  the  motive  of  the  actor,  cannot  be  a 
virtuous  act  if  it  have  an  evil  tendency.  Ignorance  can  never  be 
virtue :  so,  no  man  can  be  virtuous  who  acts  from  a  wicked  motive, 
however  beneficial  may  be  the  result.  The  motive  must  be  pure, 
and  the  effect  good,  before  the  act  or  the  actor  is  virtuous.  A  man 
may  be  virtuous,  but  in  so  low  a  degree  as  to  not  merit  the  appel 
lation  :  we  must  compare  what  he  does,  with  what  he  has  the 
power  of  doing.  The  widow's  mite  may  be  an  example. 

We  submit  the  inquiry — Is  not  the  deduction  clear,  that  men  are 
not  equal — neither  physically,  religiously,  mentally,  or  morally  ? 
Can  they  then  be  so  politically  ?  Will  not  the  proposition  be  cor 
rect,  that  political  equality  can  never  exist  with  an  inequality  in 
these  previous  terms  ? 

Raynal  has  said,  we  think  correctly,  "  that  equality  will  always 
be  an  unintelligible  fiction,  so  long  as  the  capacities  of  men  are 
unequal,  and  their  claims  have  neither  guarantee  nor  sanction  by 
which  they  can  be  enforced."  "On  a  dit  que  nous  avions  tous 
les  memes  droits.  J'ignore  ce  que  c'est  que  les  memes  droits,  oii 
il  y  a  indgalite  de  talens  ou  de  force,  et  nulle  garantie,  nulle  sanc 
tion."  Raynal,  Revolution  d'Amerique,  p.  34. 


LESSON  VII. 


THE  rules  of  Christianity  are  always  coadjuvant  to  those  of 
justice.  The  least  deviation  from  justice  begins  to  mark  the  un 
christian  character.  "  Just  balances,  just  weights,  a  just  epha 
and  a  just  kin  shall  ye  have."  Lev.  xix.  36.  "  But  thou  shalt  have 
a  perfect  and  just  weight,  a  perfect  and  just  measure  shalt  thou 
have  ;  that  thy  days  may  be  lengthened  in  the  land  which  the  Lord 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


thy  God  giveth  thee."'  Deut.  xxv.  15.     "Ye  shall  have  a  just 
balance  and  a  just  epha,  and  a  just  bath."  Ezek.  xlv.  10. 

"  Justice  and  judgment  are  the  habitation  of  thy  throne  ;  mercy 
and  truth  shall  go  before  thy  face."  Ps.  Ixxxix.  14. 
"As  I  hear  I  judge,  and  my  judgment  is  just." 
"  Finally,  brethren,  whatsoever  things  are  true,  whatsoever  things 
are  honest,  whatsoever  things  are  just,  whatsoever  things  are  pure, 
whatsoever  things  are  lovely,  whatsoever  things  are  of  good  re 
port,  if  there  be  any  virtue,  if  there   be   any  praise,  think   on 
those  things."  Phil.  iv.  8. 

But  justice,  as  an  act  emanating  from  the  rules  of  right,  is 
wholly  dependent  on  the  law  :  with  the  abolition  of  all  law,  justice 
or  its  opposite  would  cease  to  exist. 

We  are  aware  there  are  a  class  who  say  that  Christians  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  law  of  God  ;  that  they  believe  in  Christ, 
and  are  excused  from  obedience  to  the  law;  that  they  are  not 
under  the  law,  but  the  gospel  ;  that  the  law  to  them  is  of  none 
effect  ;  that  the  laws  of  God  as  revealed  to  Moses  have  been  re 
pealed  ;  —  or  rather  they  seem  to  have  but  a  confused  idea  of  what 
they  do  believe  touching  the  matter,  while  they  fashion  a  theory 
of  Divine  providence  to  suit  their  own  fancies,  and  substantially,  by 
their  own  hands,  fashion  Jehovah  into  an  idol,  although  not  of 
wood  or  stone,  yet  as  much  in  conformity  to  their  own  notions  ; 
perhaps  but  little  thinking  that  their  notions  may  have  arisen 
from  pride  or  ignorance.  We  cannot  promise  any  benefit  by  ad- 
4,  dressing  such.  He  who  dares  take  the  character  of  Jehovah  into 
V  keeping,  selecting  from  among  the  manifestations  of  his  providence, 
i*  -aVid  decide  this  law  to  be  repealed,  or  this  only  in  force,  would 
se$m  to  be  as  far  beyond  the  reach  of  human  reason  as  his  posi 
tion  is  beyond  the  bounds  of  moral  sense. 

But  let  us,  who  claim  not  so  high  prerogative,  who  are  able 
only  to  notice  some  faint  emanations  of  the  Divine  mind,  as  He  has 
seen  fit  to  reveal  himself  to  our  feeble  perceptions,  —  who  have  been 
taught  by  the  exercise  of  faith  to  perceive  them  in  the  holy  books 
of  his  record  of  what  is  past,  and  the  present  display  of  his  power 
and  rule  in  the  government  of  the  world,  —  take  counsel  together, 
and  examine  and  compare  the  teachings  they  may  give  of  the 
unchangeableness  of,  and  our  relation  with,  the  laws  of  God. 

The  Creator  of  things  may  be  deemed  able  to  impose  such  rela 
tions  between  the  things  created  as  he  may  judge  suitable  to  effect 
the  object  had  in  their  creation.  Such  relations  we  call  law  ;  be- 


412  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

cause,  as  we  notice  things,  they  are  the  rules  by  which  they  act  or 
are  acted  upon.  So  far  as  human  reason  has  been  able  to  examine, 
such  laws  are  as  unchangeable  as  the  Deity  who  imposed  them. 
To  such  certainty  and  unchangeableness  we  give  the  name  of  truth, 
and  hence  we  gay  God  is  truth,  having  reference  to  the  unchange 
ableness  of  his  nature  and  of  his  laws. 

With  the  idea  of  the  changeability  of  his  laws,  of  necessity 
must  be  associated  the  idea  of  the  changeability  of  God  himself. 
The  wickedness  of  such  argument  is  announced  in  its  tendency  to 
the  dethronement  of  Jehovah.  It  was  the  very  argument  used  by 
the  serpent  in  Eden. 

The  conclusion  is,  it  is  inconsistent  with  the  Deity  that  his  laws 
should  be  repealed ;  the  same  circumstance,  under  which  his  law 
has  been  noticed  to  manifest  itself,  reappearing,  and  it  is  again 
developed.  They  are  the  laws  of  eternity.  They  are  the  voice 
of  God.  The  doctrine  of  the  gospel  is  bold  and  plain  upon  this 
subject. 

"  Wherefore  the  law  is  holy,  and  the  commandment  holy  and 
just  and  good."  Rom.  vii.  12. 

"Now  we  know  that  what  things  soever  the  law  saith,  it  saith 
to  them  who  are  under  the  law,  that  every  mouth  may  be  stopped, 
and  all  the  world  may  become  guilty  before  God.  Therefore  by 
the  deeds  of  the  law,  there  shall  no  flesh  be  justified  in  his  sight, 
for  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin."  "Do  we  then  make  void  the 
law  through  faith?  God  forbid;  yea,  we  establish  the  law." 
Rom.  iii.  19,  20,  31. 

"  Whosoever  committeth  sin  transgresseth  also  the  law,  for  sin 
is  the  transgression  of  the  law."  1  John  iii.  4. 

"  Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets ; 
I  am  not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil.  Whosoever  therefore  shall 
break  one  of  these  least  commandments,  and  shall  teach  so  to  do, 
he  shall  be  called  the  least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  but  who 
soever  shall  do  and  teach  them,  the  same  shall  be  called  great  in 
the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Matt.  v.  17,  19. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  413 


LESSON  VIII. 

.  ANOTHER  of  the  rules  of  Christian  justice  which  will  be  found 
applicable  to  our  subject,  is,  "  Therefore  all  things  whatsoever  ye 
would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  unto  them :  for 
this  is  the  law  and  the  prophets."  Matt.  vii.  12. 

The  remarks  made  upon  the  first  rule  are  in  some  measure  ap 
plicable  to  this. 

The  desire  of  something  to  be  done  must  be  founded  on  good 
reason  and  conformable  to  justice.  Folly  ever  marks  an  unrea 
sonable  desire  ;  and  that  desire  is  always  unjust  which  merely 
reaches  to  the  taking  from  another  without  the  corresponding  de 
sire  to  reciprocate.  Such  desires  are  changed  instantly  into  the 
action  of  the  mind  called  "  coveting,"  and  are  most  strictly  for 
bidden,  for  this  good  reason,  that  very  action  of  the  mind  is  a 
mental  theft;  and  the  moral  wickedness  in  the  individual  "covet 
ing"  is  the  same  as  though  he  were  practically  a  thief.  But,  fur 
ther,  the  desire  must  be  predicated  upon  a  presumable  condition  : 
for,  by  the  rule,  it  would  be  unjust  to  desire  that  which  it  would  not 
be  possible  to  have  done  to  us ;  so  it  would  be  to  desire  any  other 
impossibility.  Suppose  A.  should  desire  that  you  would  make  him 
rich,  does  it  follow  that  he  must  make  you  rich  when  he  has  no 
ability  to  do  so  ?  The  case  is  not  founded  upon  a  presumable 
condition,  nor,  on  good  reason,  upon  a  desire  to  reciprocate,  conse 
quently  unjust. 

But  suppose  A.  feels  anxious  for  your  warm  regard  for  his  pros 
perity  in  his  lawful  understandings,  here  the  desire  reaches  to 
nothing  unjust,  to  no  disorder  in  society,  or  beyond  your  power, 
and  clearly  within  his  power  to  reciprocate ;  he  is  then  bound  by 
the  rule  to  feel  a  warm  desire  for  your  prosperity  in  all  your  law 
ful  undertakings.  And  who  does  not  perceive  that  if  one  desires 
your  good  wishes,  he  must  of  necessity  feel  good  wishes  for  you. 
Whether  the  desire  imply  merely  a  mental  or  physical  action,  similar 
examples  will  illustrate.  The  rule  is  truly  a  golden  one,  and,  so 
far  as  acted  upon,  binds  society  together  in  peace  and  goodwill. 

It  is  quite  analogous  to  the  twenty-fourth  maxim  of  Confucius, 
which  reads  thus  :  "  Do  unto  another  as  thou  would  be  dealt  with 


414  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

thyself;  thou  only  needest  this  law  alone:  it  is  the  foundation  and 
principle  of  all  the  rest."  And  is  in  spirit  with  the  fifty-third 
maxim  of  the  same  philosopher:  "  Acknowledge  the  benefits  by  the 
return  of  other  benefits  ;  but  never  revenge  injuries."  We  trust 
the  rule  is  none  the  less  sacred  because  it  was  revealed  to  man  at 
an  early  period. 

Let  us  illustrate  the  correctness  of  these  views  by  the  inconsist 
ency  of  those  opposite.  Others  say  that  if  we  were  in  slavery 
we  should  wish  to  be  made  free,  therefore  we  are  bound  by  this 
rule  to  set  free  all  who  are  in  slavery  now. 

If  this  be  true,  in  order  that  the  whole  circle  of  action  may  be 
consistent,  there  must  be  another  link  added  to  the  chain ;  hence 
we  find  that  the  advocates  of  this  interpretation  say,  also,  "  that 
same  inward  principle  which  teaches  a  man  what  he  is  bound  to 
do  for  others,  teaches  equally,  and  at  the  same  instant,  what  others 
are  bound  to  do  to  him."  Channing,  vol.  ii.  p.  33.  This  proposi 
tion  inevitably  follows  the  preceding ;  for  who  is  he  that  can  say 
among  men  that  that  is  a  good  rule  which  is  not  reciprocal. 

This  imaginary  rule  would  perhaps  be  less  obnoxious  in  case  of 
universal  equality.  For,  in  that  case,  we  may  suppose  an  uni 
versal  equality  of  desire,  without  which  one  wishes  one  thing  and 
another  its  opposite.  But  so  long  as  God  rules,  universal  equality 
can  only  happen  in  case  of  universal  perfection,  in  which  case 
neither  sin  nor  slavery  can  exist,  and  in  which  case  the  argument 
will  not  be  wanted.  But  the  rule  as  left  by  Jesus  Christ  was  made 
for  man  in  his  fallen  state. 

But  again,  if  the  interpretation  of  our  opponents  be  true,  then 
the  proposition  may  be  resolved  into  this  state : — A.  is  as  much 
bound  by  the  desire  of  B.  as  by  his  own,  and  the  whole  world  is 
fully  bound  by  both.  But  the  whole  world  individually  desire  ad 
versely  to  each  other,  yet  each  desire  is  to  be  harmoniously  grati 
fied.  Let  each  one  make  out  the  examples  ;  we  think  they  will 
find  them  extremely  ridiculous  in  the  result.  The  doctrine  in 
volves  plainly  the  most  gross  contradictions,  and  is  therefore  a 
naked  nullity. 

Again,  if  it  be  the  law  of  God,  that  because  we  desire  a  thing, 
therefore  we  are  bound  to  give  that  thing  to  another,  it  implies 
that  the  desire  was  the  manifestation  of  God's  will ;  in  short, 
that  the  desire  was  a  portion  of  his  revealed  law ;  consequently, 
whatever  any  man  desires  is  a  portion  of  inspiration.  Hence 
Channing  says,  (page  as  above,)  "  his  conscience,  in  revealing  the 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


moral  law,  does  not  reveal  a  law  for  himself  only,  but  speaks  as  a 
universal  legislator."  Now  it  follows,  that,  as  each  man  desires 
an  opposite,  therefore  there  are  as  many  opposite  systems  of  the 
laws  of  God  as  there  are  individuals  who  desire  them;  in  other 
words,  it  would  be  making  God's  law  just  what  each  one  desired  it 
to  be.  Thus  making  the  law  of  God  a  perfect  nullity. 

But  again,  if  the  interpretation  of  the  golden  rule,  as  employed 
by  them  who  use  it  to  inculcate  immediate  emancipation,  be  true, 
then  it  contradicts  the  spirit  of  the  command,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
covet  thy  neighbour's  house.  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbour's 
wife  ;  nor  his  man-servant,  0^31?}  ve  abeddo,  male  slave,)  nor  his 
maid-servant,  (InOfrO  va  amatho,'  female  slave,)  nor  his  ox,  nor  his 
ass,  nor  any  thing  that  is  thy  neighbour's."  JExod.  xx.  17.  Here 
the  word  "  covet"  is  used  to  mean  a  strong  desire  without  the  wish 
or  ability  to  reciprocate  ;  therefore  without  good  reason—  conse 
quently  unjust.  It  is  the  same  exercise  of  the  mind  that  leads  a 
man  to  acts  of  theft  that  is  here  forbidden  :  an  exercise  of  the  mind 
that  leads  to  many  disorders  in  society,  and  hence  this  command. 
The  command  does  not  extend  to  him  who  desires  his  neighbour's 
house,  man-servant,  maid-servant,  ox,  or  ass,  upon  the  condition 
that  the  desire  is  founded  upon  good  reason.  The  neighbour 
having  the  will  and  power  to  part  with,  and  he  who  desires  the 
power^  and  -will  to  reciprocate,  these  qualifications  bring  the  de 
sire  within  the  purview  of  the  golden  rule,  and  remove  all  ten 
dency  to  disorders  in  society.  To  buy  and  sell  with  the  view  to 
reciprocate  gain,  has  a  very  strong  tendency  to  bind  society 
together  in  peace  and  good-will. 

In  the  lesson  of  the  golden  rule,  the  Saviour  gave  a  check  to 
impetuous  and  improper  desires,—  to  the  wicked  and  improper 
hankering  after  the  substance  or  condition  of  others,—  by  bringing  to 
view  the  propriety  of  performing  themselves  such  acts  as  they  de 
manded  of  others:  that  they  should  prove  themselves  worthy  of 
^he  solicited  favour  by  a  reciprocity  of  feeling  and  action. 

This  we  think  evident  from  what  precedes  :  "If  then  ye,  being 
3vil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children,  how  much 
more  shall  your  Father  that  is  in  heaven  give  good  things  unto 
them  that  ask  him." 

The  doctrine  of  the  golden  rule  seems  to  be  often  misunderstood. 
We  quote  from  the  great  Selden:  "Guided  by  justice  and  mercy, 
do  unto  all  men  as  you  would  have  them  do  to  you,  were  your  cir 
cumstances  and  theirs  reversed.  If  the  prisoner  should  ask  the 


416  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


judge  whether  he  would  be  content  to  be  hanged  were  he  in  his 
case,  he  would  answer,  No !  Then  says  the  prisoner,  Do  as  you 
would  be  done  to.  Neither  of  them  must  do  as  private  men ;  but 
the  judge  must  do  by  him  as  they  have  publicly  agreed :  that  is, 
both  judge  and  prisoner  have  consented  to  the  law,  that  if  either 
of  them  steal,  he  shall  be  hanged."  Selden. 

"  If  the  wickedest  wretches  among  yourselves,  the  most  peevish, 
weak,  and  ill-natured  of  you  all,  will  readily  give  good  gifts  to 
their  children  when  they  cry  for  them,  how  much  rather  will  the  * 
great  God,  infinite  in  goodness,  bestow  blessings  on  his  children 
who  endeavour  to  resemble  him  in  his  perfections,  and  for  that 
ask  his  grace  and  other  spiritual  and  heavenly  blessings ;"  but 
God  grants  these  blessings  alone  upon  this  condition,  that,  "  ani 
mated  by  his  goodness,  you  study  to  express  your  gratitude  for  it 
by  your  integrity  and  kindness  to  your  fellow-creatures,  treating 
them  in  every  instance  as  you  would  think  it  reasonable  to  be 
treated  by  them,  if  you  were  in  their  circumstances,  and  they  in 
yours;  for  this  is,  in  eifect,  a  summary  and  abstract  of  all  the 
human  and  social  virtues  recommended  in  the  moral  precepts  of 
the  law  and  the  prophets,  and  it  was  one  of  the  greatest  ends  of 
both  to  bring  men  to  this  equitable  and  amiable  temper." 
Doddridge. 

Such  are  the  comments  of  these  men  upon  this  subject. 

But  permit  us  to  remark  that  the  word  man-servant,  in  the 
command  just  quoted,  is  translated  from  the  Hebrew  IDJ^  ebed, 
and  means  what  we  mean  by  the  word  slave.  And  let  it  be  re 
membered  that,  in  the  decalogue,  in  one  of  the  original  laws  of 
God  the  Father,  delivered  to  Moses  from  Sinai,  the  slave  is  classed 
with  the  ox,  the  ass,  in  short,  with  all  other  property,  as  an  article 
of  possession ;  and  that  we  are  commanded  not  to  have  a  desire  to 
change  the  possession  unjustly.  And  that,  by  a  fair  interpretation 
of  the  golden  rule  issued  by  the  living  lips  of  Jesus  Christ,  if  we 
reasonably  and  justly  desire  to  change  the  possession,  we  must 
honestly  reciprocate  the  full  value  thereof. 

Let  the  candid  world,  the  truth-searching  philosopher,  and  the 
humble  Christian  examine,  and  say  whether  these  conclusions  are 
not  founded  on  reason,  justice,  and  the  laws  of  God. 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  417 


LESSON  IX. 

WE  suppose  all  Christians  will  agree  that  God  is  a  Spirit  eternal 
and  infinite,  unchangeable  and  unaccountable,  omnipotent,  omni 
present,  and  omniscient,  most  wise,  most  true,  most  holy,  and  most 
good,  without  beginning  or  without  end.  Such  from  eternity  were 
his  qualities,  and  such  to  eternity  they  will  remain. 

In  contemplation  of  these  characteristics  of  Jehovah,  we  are  led 
to  deduce  that  God  must  originally  and  essentially  within  himself 
be  eternally  happy.  "  My  counsel  shall  stand,  and  I  will  do  all  my 
pleasure."  Isa.  xlvi.  10.  If  it  is  proper  to  say  that  God  has 
desires,  then  it  must  be  his  desire  that  his  "counsel  shall  stand," 
because  it  is  inconsistent  with  happiness  to  be  unable  to  gratify 
desire  or  fail  in  counsel ;  besides,  it  would  prove  some  deficiency 
of  power.  Before  God  created  some  other  being  or  thing,  he  ex 
isted  alone.  Can  it  be  said  he  had  wants  ?  For  what  purpose 
then  did  he  create  other  things  ?  What  object  had  he  in  view  ? 
The  object  must  have  been  worthy  of  calling  forth  his  action. 
What  other  object  could  have  been  worthy  of  his  action  than  him 
self?  Because  his  "work,  must  in  all  its  parts  reflect  his  power, 
his  every  quality,  we  must  therefore  conclude  God  is  the  sole 
and  ultimate  end  of  every  thing  he  does.  If  all  the  labours  of 
Deity  were  not  solely  for  himself,  then  of  the  greatness  and  recti 
tude  of  mapy  of  his  providences  and  acts,  perhaps  none  could  ever 
be  comprehended  or  even  perceived  by  mortals.  For  God  legis 
lates  not  merely  for  a  city,  a  tribe  or  nation,  but  for  the  universe : 
not  for  an  hour,  a  day  or  a  thousand  years,  but  for  eternity.  "  I 
know  that  whatsoever  God  doeth  it  shall  be  for  ever :  nothing  can 
be  put  to  it,  nor  any  thing  taken  from  it ;  and  God  doeth  it,  that 
men  shall  fear  before  him."  ^  Eccl.  iii.  14. 

If  God  himself  is  the  ultimate  end  of  all  things,  then  that  moral 
philosopher,  a  poor,  ignorant  man,  a  worm  of  but  momentary  ex 
istence,  mistakes,  who  teaches  in  substance  that  true  religion,  that 
is,  worship  of  God,  consists  in  an  advantageous,  successful,  and 
well-directed  selfishness  in  favour  of  himself;  for,  upon  that  prin 
ciple  the  vilest  enemy  may  take  shelter  under  the  cloak  of  his 
adversary, — but  will  he  be  the  more  worthy  ?  If  God  is  the  supreme 

0.7 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

object  of  creation,  then  this  righteous  selfishness  must  be  in  ex 
treme  opposition  to  God.  There  are  important  deductions  ema 
nating  from  these  reflections,  which  we  are  unwilling  to  deprive 
others  the  pleasure  of  drawing  out  for  themselves.  The  use  God 
makes  of  his  creations  proves  the  end  for  which  he  made  them. 
We  might  rest  here  ;  but  we  have  heard  some  say  that  God's  object 
in  creation  was  the  happiness  of  all  his  sentient  creatures.  If  so, 
then  they  all  would  be  happy ;  which  is  not  the  fact.  Human 
misery  is  the  first  object  we  behold  everywhere.  True,  man  can 
never  have  a  very  competent  idea  of  God.  His  powers  of  thought 
are  too  low ;  his  associations  too  trivial.  But  if  the  object  God 
had  in  creation  was  the  development  of  his  own  glory,  then  there 
can  be  no  greater  conformity  unto  God  than  there  is  knowledge  of 
his  character.  Hence,  where  we  see,  hear,  and  learn  the  most  of 
God,  we  become  the  most  pure  and  holy.  Holiness  depends  on  a 
knowledge  of  God.  The  reason  is  obvious  :  a  holy  man  is  a  more 
perfect  exhibition  of  the  Divine  character.  If  so,  then  the  happi 
ness  of  man  depends  upon  his  perception  of  God.  Therefore  man 
can  never  be  happy  only  in  proportion  as  he  is  holy.  But  if  the 
glory  of  God  is  the  ultimate  end  of  creation,  and  if  the  happiness 
of  his  rational  creatures  depends  upon  their  perception  of  him, 
then  the  ultimate  end  secures  in  the  highest  possible  degree  their 
happiness. 

^  The  great  cause  of  human  misery  will  be  found  to  proceed  from 
the  unquenchable  desire  in  the  unregenerate  man  to  rebel  against 
Q-0(i_l_to  set  up  a  government  of  his  own,  more  wise  than  he 
conceives  the  government  of  God  to  be ;  in  fact,  he  does  not  per 
ceive  his  government,  for  he  has  no  perception  of  him. 

We  might  deduce  an  argument  in  proof  that  a  perception  of 
God  is  happiness  to  man,  from  the  formation  of  his  mental  powers. 
To  whom  does  it  not  give  deep  distress  to  behold  what  we  call 
talent  and  virtue  hid  in  obscurity  and  bowed  down  beneath  op 
pression  and  want  ?  To  whom  does  it  not  give  great  delight  to 
perceive  a  lucid  manifestation  of  these  qualities  ?  The  great  ob 
ject  in  the  individual  creation  of  man  is  his  improvement;  his 
advance  towards  an  approximation  of  being  able  to  see  God  as  he 
is.  The  business  of  angels  and  saints  in  heaven  is  to  intensely 
seek  after  a  more  full  knowledge  of  God. 

If  the  happiness  of  man  is  thus  dependent  upon  his  perception 
of  the  greatness  and  power  of  God,  then  we  may  conclude  that  a 
continued  manifestation  of  it  is  essential  to  him  in  producing 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  419 


before  his  mind  an  increasing  brilliancy  of  view  of  the  great  Je 
hovah. 

The  order  and  gradation  in  the  power  bestowed  on  the  different 
objects  his  hand  has  made,  displaying  his  foresight  in  the  work  of 
creation,  from  the  seraph  down  to  the  veriest  mite,  would  seem  an 
arrangement  that  might  furnish  the  mind  of  man  or  an  angel  with 
never-ending  study,  with  a  never-ending  employment  to  find  out 
God. 

If  the  wide  and  permanent  diversity  of  character  and  condition 
in  the  present  world,  and  in  that  which  is  to  come, — if  the  rela 
tions  we  find  between  man  and  man, — if  the  great  sacrifice  for 
sin  and  the  redemption  wrought  therefrom, — if  the  eternal  wrath 
of  Jehovah  against  the  incorrigible  sinner,  all  in  combination 
manifest  the  greatest  display  of  the  power  and  perfections  of  God ; 
— in  short,  if  the  providences  of  God  collectively,  as  we  see  them 
manifested  in  the  world,  are  the  true  developments  of  his  character, 
then  it  will  follow  that  they  all,  in  combination,  terminate  in  the 
greatest  good,  and,  in  their  external  consequences,  subserve  to  the 
greatest  extent  of  happiness  to  which  the  human  mind,  in  the  pur 
suit  of  its  only  legitimate  employment,  is  now  or  ever  will  be  sus 
ceptible. 

The  first  deduction  is  that  sin  must  always  be  accompanied  with 
misery,  but  that  holiness  is  as  surely  accompanied  with  happiness, 
no  matter  what  may  be  the  physical  condition.  It  may  not  be  im 
proper  here  to  advert  to  one  of  the  characteristics  of  our  intellec 
tual  constitution,  which  is  this  :  whatever  is  presented  to  the  mind 
calling  on  its  energy  and  our  physical  action  can  never  be  ap 
proached  by  us  with  any  tolerable  degree  of  perfectedness  unless  by 
constant  and  long-continued  repetitions  ;  whence  we  say,  "  practice 
makes  perfect."  Whereas,  whatever  is  presented  wherein  we  are 
wholly  passive,  repetition  and  familiarity  are  in  constant  action  to 
diminish,  weaken,  and  wash  out  the  impressions  first  made.  Ex 
amples  in  proof  of  the  first  position  are  found  in  the  necessary  and 
long-continued  exertions  before  we  become  adepts  in  the  arts  and 
practices  of  civilized  life.  In  the  African  savage,  often,  many 
generations  of  constant  exertion  in  the  same  direction  are  required 
before  that  race  is  found  to  have  attained  such  a  state  of  per 
fectibility  in  these  things  as  is  required  to  sustain  a  position  in 
civilized  life ;  and  it  is  to  this  they  owe  their  state  of  pupilage 
among  the  civilized  races. 

Examples  of  the  second  position  are  found  in  the  ready  and 


420  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


quick  adaptation  of  ourselves  to  the  condition  in  which  we  are 
placed :  even  our  senses,  from  constant  repetition  and  familiarity, 
often  cease  to  loathe  that  which  was  obnoxious.  The  mind  to  which 
the  starry  firmament  is  first  unfolded  will  be  filled  with  astonish 
ment  and  wonder  ;  but  the  familiarity  of  a  constant  gaze  does  not 
even  excite  an  emotion. 

This  characteristic  of  the  human  intellect  gives  strong  proof  of 
the  power  and  wisdom  of  God.  For  through  its  means,  all  in  civil 
ized  and  Christian  life  and  practice,  from  the  king  upon  the  throne 
down  to  the  slave,  are  rendered  equally  happy  and  contented  with 
their  condition.  Therefore  he  is  not  a  correct  philosopher  who 
measures  the  happiness  of  a  lower  grade  in  life  by  his  own  feelings. 


LESSON  X. 


FROM  consideration  of  our  previous  lesson,  we  should  make  the 
deduction  that  Christianity  is  incompatible  with  savage  life.  The 
Christian  can  no  longer  be  a  savage,  notwithstanding  the  habits 
of  civilization  may  be  yet  too  weakly  established  to  guaranty 
against  lapses  to  former  habits.  The  habits  of  the  savage  must 
be  changed  so  as  to  approximate  civilized  life  before  Christianity 
can  be  successfully  taught  him.  Hence  one  error  into  which  the 
missionary  and  the  teacher  of  the  Negro  sometimes  fall.  They 
confine  their  labours  to  instructions  concerning  the  more  abstruse 
doctrines  of  Christianity  ;  but  the  savage  has  no  capability  to  com 
prehend  them:  his  mind  has  never  been  prepared  for  their  recep 


tion. 


'ii. 

The  child  can  never  comprehend  the  laws  of  astronomy  till  he 
has  first  learned  mathematics.  The  savage  must  first  be  made  to 
comprehend  the  necessity  that  individual  wants  must  be  supplied  by 
individual  labour,  and  all  the  consequent  attendants  of  such  a 
state  of  things,  before  the  possibility  can  exist  that  he  will  com 
prehend  the  higher  moral  duties.  Because,  without  that,  he  re 
mains  passive  under  such  teachings ;  and  in  such  case,  the  more 
familiar  such  lessons  are  made  to  him  the  less  they  affect^  him. 
Instances  are  not  wanting  where  such  a  state  of  facts  exists  in  cir- 
cles  of  society  where  it  would  seem  they  should  be  the  least  ex 
pected  !  and  from  whence  the  great  truth  is  deducible,  that  mental 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  421 

and  physical  idleness  is  a  most  deadly  poison  to  good  morals  and 
intellectual  improvement,  and  the  conduct  of  such  men  is  always 
found  searching  the  way  back  to  a  deteriorated  condition. 

The  animal  propensities  require  to  be  forced  into  habits  con- 
tributive  to  the  relations  and  duties  of  civilized  and  Christian  life. 
The  mind  must  be  made  to  comprehend  what  our  relative  duties 
are,  both  experimentally  and  habitually,  and  also  the  impossibility 
of  their  being  dispensed  with,  before  it  will  be  able  to  perceive 
the  laws  which  bind  our  action  to  their  performance.  And  it  may 
be  here  remarked,  that  a  perception  of  these  laws  sufficiently 
strong  to  influence  the  conduct  of  a  man  will  at  least  place  him 
in  the  position  of  Agrippa  before  Paul.  The  history  of  man  does 
not  point  to  an  instance  where  an  individual  has  regenerated  him 
self  from  the  depth  of  human  degradation,  except  under  the  pu 
pilage  and  control  of  a  superior  wisdom. 

Upon  this  state  of  facts  was  founded  the  necessity  of  a  Saviour 
for  the  children  of  men. 


LESSON  XL 

THE  lowness  of  individual  condition,  in  relation  to  our  fellow 
ir*en,  or  to  human  society  generally,  is  not  incompatible  with  the 
humility  of  the  Christian  in  the  performance  of  our  duty  to  man 
or  God,  because  the  Christian  is  not  required  to  display  intellec 
tual  powers  which  he  does  not  possess,  nor  possessions  not  his  own. 
If  he  has  but  one  talent,  its  occupation  alone  is  required, — the  de 
sire  to  bestow  one  mite  marks  his  character.  It  is  therefore  a 
very  great  error  which  some  of  the  abolitionists  seem  to  suppose, 
that,  because  a  man  is  a  slave,  he  is  thereby  prevented  from  being 
a  Christian  or  hindered  from  the  worship  of  God.  On  the  con 
trary,  so  essential  is  humility  to  the  Christian  character,  that  Jesus 
Christ,  in  a  lesson  to  his  disciples,  says,  "Whosoever  will  be  chief 
among  you,  let  him  be  your  servant,"  <5oivtoc;;  doulos,  slave;  a 
figure,  a  sentence,  which  the  Divine  Being  could  never  have  pro 
nounced,  if  slavery  was  inconsistent  with  his  doctrine,  either  as  to 
the  condition  of  the  slave  or  that  of  the  master.  With  great 
"similarity  of  figure  and  sameness  of  the  humility  in  the  worshipper 
of  God,  David  addresses  Jehovah:  "  0  Lord,  truly  I  am  thy  ser- 


422  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 


vant,"  (^"p      dbedeka,  thy  slave,)  "I  am  thy  servant 
abedelca,  thy  slave)  and  the  son  of  thy  hand-maid"  (?inDN"f  3  am  a- 

I  rY-"   "*'  ~  *       '  '•" 

theJca,  thy  female  slave,)  "  thou  hast  loosed  my  bonds."     Compare 
with  John  viii.  36,  also  1  Cor.  vii.  22. 


LESSON  XII. 

THE  institutions  of  slavery  and  Christianity  can  never  be  an 
tagonistic.  Slavery  enforces  obedience  in  the  inferior  to  a  supe 
rior  power,  for  the  reciprocal  benefit  of  both.  Any  deviation  from 
the  law  of  God  pertinent  to  the  case,  to  some  extent  lessens  the 
benefit  and  diminishes  what  should  have  been  the  quotient  of  the 
general  good.  Slavery  is  therefore,  however  rude  in  its  obedience 
or  commands,  an  attempt  at  civilized  life ;  and  we  may  therefore 
judge  of  the  amount  of  its  abuses  by  its  greater  or  less  success  in 
the  cultivation  of  those  virtues  incident  to  that  condition.  True, 
this  result  is  scarcely  perceptible  where  the  most  elevated  are  still 
deeply  degraded,  as  is  for  ever  the  case  in  all  those  regions  where 
the  light  of  Christianity  has  never  been  diffused.  And  it  is  from 
these  facts  we  find  the  providence  of  God  to  be  that  slavery,  in 
such  regions,  is  always  seeking  abroad  for  a  more  enlightened 
master,  v 


LESSON  XIII. 

THE  path  of  the  Christian  is  described  as  strait  and  narrow ; 
in  it  there  are  no  broad  provisions  for  licentiousness,  immorality, 
crime,  or  sin  of  any  kind,  nor,  at  suitable  distances,  are  there  pri 
vate  apartments  prepared,  wherein  cunning  expediency  may  change 
her  apparel ;  nor  will  the  poor  traveller  be  perplexed  with  ambigu 
ous  directions,  whereby  any  thing  is  to  be  performed  contrary  to 
the  plain  understanding  of  the  law.  But  each  step  therein  must 
be  in  conformity  to  the  directions  of  him  who  made,  knows,  and 
governs  all. 

How  feeble  then  shall  prove  the  man,  swelled  with  the  pride  of' 
his  own  supposed  holiness,  who  shall  attempt  to  straighten,  alter, 


STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY.  428 

and  make  better  this  highway  to  heaven  !  "  For  who  hath  known 
the  mind  of  the  Lord  ?  or  who  hath  been  his  counsellor  ?  or  who 
hath  first  given  to  him,  and  it  shall  be  recompensed  unto  him 
again  ?  For  of  him,  and  through  him,  and  to  him  are  all  things  !" 
Rom.  xi.  34—36.  On  every  step  of  this  footway  to  heaven,  made 
for  poor  sinners  to  walk  in,  for  the  slave  as  well  as  for  the  crowned 
head,  are  engraven,  in  letters  of  the  light  of  God  himself,  direc 
tions  for  the  poor  traveller,  so  that  "  the  wayfaring  men,  though 
fools,  shall  not  err  therein."  Isa.  xxxv.  8.  And  let  us  now  read 
some  of  these  records,  and  see  how  they  comport  with  the  doctrine 
of  universal  equality  as  involved  in  the  labours  before  us  : 

"Let  every  soul  be  subject  unto  the  higher  powers;  for  there 
is  no  power  but  of  God :  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God. 

"Whosoever  therefore  resisteth  the  power  resisteth  the  ordi 
nance  of  God  ;  and  they  that  resist  shall  receive  to  themselves 
damnation. 

"  For  rulers  are  not  a  terror  to  good  works  but  to  the  evil. 
Wilt  thou  then  not  be  afraid  of  the  power,  do  that  which  is  good, 
and  thou  shalt  have  praise  of  the  same. 

"  But  if  thou  do  that  which  is  evil,  be  afraid  ;  for  he  beareth  not 
the  sword  in  vain;  for  he  is  the  minister  of  God,  a  revenger  to  exe 
cute  wrath  upon  him  that  doeth  evil. 

"  Wherefore  ye  must  needs  be  subject,  not  only  for  wrath,  but 
also  for  conscience  sake. 

"  For,  for  this  cause  pay  ye  tribute  also  ;  for  they  are  God's 
ministers,  attending  continually  upon  this  very  thing. 

"  Render  therefore  to  all  their  dues  :  tribute  to  whom  tribute 
is  due ;  custom  to  whom  custom  ;  fear  to  whom  fear  ;  honour  to 
whom  honour."  Rom.  xiii.  1-8. 


LESSON  XIV. 

BEFORE  we  close  our  present  Study,  let  us  survey  for  a  moment 
the  position  of  the  truly  Christian  character.  Let  us  see  and  ex 
amine  a  position,  whether  filled  by  lord,  subject,  or  slave,  that 
seems  so  surrounded  with  hope,  so  particularly  the  focus  of  all 
the  irradiations  of  heaven,  that  the  distinctions  and  miseries  of 
human  life,  even  wrongs  done  us,  are  blotted  out  by  the  brilliancy 
of  their  illumination. 


424  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


But  let  us  view  it  in  connection  with  man  in  an  unchristianized 
state,  under  the  control  of  the  appetites,  passions,  and  influences 
of  an  unredeemed  world  ;  and  it  may  be  we  shall  behold  with 
wonder  the  operation  of  that  redemption  by  which  his  felicity  is 
made  steadfast. 

The  uncertainty  and  vanity  of  human  pursuits  have  for  ever 
been  a  subject  of  remark. 

And,  if  we  examine  the  motives  of  human  conduct  and  see  the 
fallacious  objects  of  human  hope,  we  always  perceive  the  constant 
attendance  of  pain,  misery,  and  woe. 

As  the  visions  of  early  life  are  relinquished,  we  transfer  to  the 
future  that  confidence  which  has  been  for  ever  betrayed  by  the  past, 
and  as  these  illusions  are  successively  dispelled,  new  objects  con 
tinue  to  fill  the  imagination,  till  the  very  moment  when  all  our 
prospects  are  involved  in  the  darkness  of  the  tomb.  Nor  think  ye 
that  the  miseries  that  flow  from  ambition,  avarice,  voluptuousness, 
and  open  crime,  are  the  only  ones  that  attend  us.  Each  refine 
ment  of  life  is  accompanied  with  its  own  peculiar  symptom.  Be 
sides,  there  are  sufferings  that  no  foresight  can  foresee,  which  no 
excellence  can  elude. 

The  imperfection  of  a  master,  or  of  him  placed  in  power,  may 
bring  to  his  slave  or  other  dependant  unutterable  wo ! 

The  lassitude  of  sickness,  the  agony  of  its  pain,  the  distresses, 
the  imperfections  of  our  friends,  their  alienation  from  us,  and  our 
final  separation  from  the  objects  of  our  tenderest  regard,  would 
transform  paradise  itself  into  a  wilderness  of  wo,  did  not  the  light 
of  God  keep  it  for  ever  illumined. 

Even  could  we  escape  from  all  the  external  causes  of  wo,  yet 
the  waters  of  bitterness  would  continue  to  flow  from  the  never- 
ceasing  sources  of  sorrow  that  lie  deep  in  our  own  bosoms 
buried. 

We  are  therefore  constrained,  forced  to  conclude,  that  the 
balance  of  our  moral  constitution  has  been  destroyed  ;  and  by  the 
derangement  of  a  system  once  harmoniously  attuned,  our  principles 
of  action,  no  longer  in  unison,  are  thrown  into  perpetual  collision  : 
maintaining  no  longer  their  original  or  their -relative  strength,  they 
lead  us  into  perpetual  error,  and  by  their  conflicts  produce  a  moral 
discord  incompatible  with  the  happiness  of  man.  "  For  the  crea. 
ture  was  made  subject  to  vanity,  not  willingly,  but  by  reason  of 
him  who  hath  subjected  the  same  in  hope."  "  Because  the  crea 
ture  itself  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  (8ovteia$,  slavery)  of 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  425 

corruption  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God."  Rom. 

viii.  20. 

Had  we  been  made  acquainted  merely  with  the  fall  of  man  and 
its  effect  upon  his  moral  constitution,  we  should  have  still  been  be 
wildered  in  the  perplexities  of  our  condition.  A  consciousness  of 
guilt  would  have  filled  our  minds  with  apprehension,  and  the  fear 
of  the  Divine  displeasure  would  have  mingled  its  bitterness  with 
every  gratification,  would  have  seized  upon  every  hope.  Like 
Cain,  we  should  have  cried  out,  "  Our  punishment  is  greater  than 
we  can  bear,"  and  solicited  the  black  mark  of  slavery  as  an  anti 
dote  to  threatened  and  instant  death. 

But  the  mercy  of  God,  which  always  tempers  even  the  natural 
events  to  the  delicate  sensibilities  of  our  physical  perceptions,  con 
cealed  from  our  view  the  desolation  of  our  condition,  till,  in  the 
maturity  of  his  counsels,  he  saw  fit  to  blend  with  the  discovery  the 
bright  visions  "of  the  glory  about  to  be  revealed."  Rom.  viii.  18. 
The  heathen  nations,  although  painfully  alive  to  the  brevity  of 
human  life,  and  deeply  impressed  with  the  vanity  of  our  hopes, 
were  equally  ignorant  of  our  fallen  nature,  and  of  the  holiness  of 
that  God  before  whom  we  are  to  be  adjudged.  Their  conception 
of  an  existence  after  death  was  cheerless  and  indistinct,  although, 
even  at  this  late  day,  among  the  most  lofty  intellects  of  their  time, 
we  can  now  perceive  a  longing  desire  after  something  to  them  un 
known,  a  hankering  for  the  proof  of  a  spiritual  immortality.  Thus, 
while  there  was  but  little  in  their  anticipations  of  a  future  state  to 
excite  their  apprehension  or  alarm,  there  was  but  little  to  stimu 
late  their  hope. 

The  vulgar  were  sometimes  alarmed  by  the  majestic  terrors  of 
the  Thunderer,  and  the  philosopher  was  sometimes  penetrated  by 
those  perfections  which  he  was  led  to  ascribe  to  the  mighty  Mind. 
Yet  the  wisest  sages  of  antiquity  do  not  seem  to  have  perceived 
in  human  guilt  an  internal  malignity,  which  no  penitence  can  ex 
piate,  nor  blood  of  dying  victims  wash  away. 

If  some  glimpses  of  the  miseries  and  dangers  in  which  sin  had 
involved  us  were  disclosed  to  the  favoured  few,  yet  visions  of  pro 
phecy  dispelled  the  'gloom  ;  for,  "  where  there  is  no  vision  the  peo 
ple  perish."  Prov.  xxix.  18. 

It  was  not  till  our  Saviour  had  sealed  the  charter  of  our  hope, 
that  our  condition,  with  a  full  view  of  its  desolation,  was  proclaimed 
to  a  fallen  world.  A  knowledge  of  the  disease  and  the  remedy 
has  in  mercy  kept  pace  with  each  other.  If  we  learn  that  the 


426  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

"  creature  was  made  subject  to  vanity,"  we  also  learn  that  lie  was 
made  so  in  hope. 

Now,  when  we  behold  our  condition,  although  we  see  evidences 
of  our  fallen  state,  of  the  degradation  of  our  intellectual  and  moral 
faculties,  yet  we  see  also  a  provision  of  mercy  by  which  the  crea 
ture  may  be  delivered  from  "the  bondage  (Sovfaiag,  slavery)  of 
corruption  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God." 

Viewed  in  connection  with  this  sublime  truth,  the  value  of  human 
interests,  the  pain  of  human  sufferings,  and  the  grief  of  human 
wrongs  disappear ;  yea,  vanish  from  the  eye  of  the  true  believer. 
The  grandeur  of  his  future  prospects  dignifies  his  present  state, 
however  humble.  His  present  evils,  which  might  overwhelm  him 
if  attached  to  his  ultimate  condition,  lose  all  their  bitterness  when 
.converted  by  redeeming  love  into  mere  lessons  of  moral  discipline. 
The  pain  is  softened  by  the  endearment  of  paternal  tenderness, 
and  he  feels  and  knows  that  they  will  only  accompany  the  mere 
infancy  of  his  being. 

The  poor,  humble,  but  Christian  slave,  hears  constantly  the  les 
sons  of  Titus,  and  is  happy  in  his  obedience  to  his  own  master, 
that  he  may  please  him  well  in  all  things,  watchful  to  not  contra 
dict,  nor  purloin  from  any  one,  and  careful  to  show  all  good  fidelity, 
that  he  may  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God.  He  feels  that  no  one  has 
a  deeper  interest  in  that  grace ;  for  it  hath  equally  appeared  to  all 
men. 

He  remembers  his  fellow-slaves  of  Colosse,  and  while  with  sin 
gleness  of  eye  he  heartily  serves  his  earthly  master,  he  feels  that 
the  act  is  ennobled,  and  is  transferred  to  be  an  act  of  devotion  and 
obedience  to  the  great  Jehovah. 

Sympathy  carries  him  back  to  his  Corinthian  brethren,  in  common 
with  whom  he  feels  no  anxious  care  to  change  the  condition  in 
which  he  was  called,  for  while  he  is  content  to  abide  where  God 
has  placed  him,  he  knows  that  he  has  been  purchased  by  the  blood 
of  Christ,  and  promoted  to  the  rank  of  a  freeman  of  the  Lord. 

With  his  fellow-slaves  of  Ephesus,  he  may  tremble  with  fear  lest 
his  obedience  to  his  master  shall  not  be  performed  with  good-will 
and  singleness  of  heart,  as  unto  Christ  himself,  for  he  knows  that 
God  has  not  required  of  him  merely  eye-service ;  yet  he  also 
knows  that  Christians,  whether  bond  or  free  in  this  world,  will 
hereafter  be  remembered  of  God  for  whatever  good  they  do.  Yea, 
he  yields  himself  to  the  exhortations  of  Timothy,  and  accounts  his 
own  master  worthy  of  all  honour  and  obedience,  that  the  name 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  42' 


of  God  and  his  doctrine  should  not  be  blasphemed ;  nor  does  he 
feel  the  less  reverence  for  his  believing  master,  but  rather  does  his 
service  with  alacrity  as  to  a  brother,  and  with  heart-felt  joy, 
because  he  is  a  faithful  and  beloved  partaker  of  the  benefits  of  his 
labour. 

And  when  he  hears  men,  whose  ignorance  of  God  has  caused 
them  to  be  puffed  up  with  the  idea  of  their  own  importance  and 
purity,  evidently  filled  with  pride,  as  though  they  could  teach  God 
a  more  holy  government,  attempting  to  exhort  and  teach  them  a 
different  doctrine,  he  feels,  he  knows  that  such  are  not  only  evil 
and  bad  men,  but  ignorant  ones,  such  as  dote  about  questions,  and 
strifes  of  words,  which  have  no  other  tendency  than  to  fill  the 
mind  with  envy,  strife,  railing,  and  evil  surmises,  such  as  are 
among  men  of  corrupt  minds,  among  men  who  are  destitute  of  the 
truth,  and  among  men  who  suppose  that  gain  is  godliness.  He 
will  view  such  men,  however  thoughtless  they  may  be  of  their 
true  position  or  sincere  in  their  belief,  as  standing  in  the  position 
of  the  serpent  in  Eden.  Their  lessons  to  him  are  disobedience  to 
God.  From  such  he  will  withdraw  himself ;  yea,  he  will  fly  from 
them  as  from  a  deadly  poison,  because  disobedience  to  God  for 
ever  ends  in  ruin  and  death.  But  from  Timothy  he  learns  con 
tentment,  for,  as  he  brought  nothing  into  the  world  with  him,  and 
as  he  can  most  certainly  carry  nothing  out,  so,  having  food  and 
raiment,  he  will  be  content,  and  especially  so  as  contentment  and 
godliness  are  great  gain. 

And  finally  he  hears  as  it  were  a  trumpet  sounding  from  the 
very  gates  of  heaven,  and  looking,  he  beholds  Peter  standing 
there ;  he  hears  a  still  small  voice,  the  voice  of  Jesus  Christ,  say 
ing,  "Thou  art  Peter,  and  on  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church, 
and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it,  and  I  will  give 
unto  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  whatsoever  thou 
shalt  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven."  Matt.  xvi.  18, 19. 
And  then  Peter,  raising  his  arm  in  the  direction  of  the  Gentile 
nations,  says  to  the  slaves :  "  Be  subject  to  your  masters  with  all 
fear ;  not  only  to  the  good  and  gentle,  but  also  to  the  froward  :  for 
this  is  thank-worthy,  if  a  man  for  conscience  towards  God  endure 
grief,  suffering  wrongfully.  For  what  glory  is  it,  if,  when  ye  be 
buffeted  for  your  faults,  ye  take  it  patiently  ?  But  if,  when  ye  do 
well,  and  suffer  for  it,  ye  take  it  patiently,  this  is  acceptable  to 
God.  For  even  hereunto  were  ye  called;  because  Christ  also 
suffered  for  us,  leaving  us  an  example,  that  ye  should  follow  his 


428  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


steps,  who  did  no  sin,  neither  was  guile  found  in  his  mouth ;  who 
when  he  was  reviled,  reviled  not  again  ;  when  he  suffered  he 
threatened  not,  but  committed  himself  to  him  that  judgeth  right 
eously  ;  who  his  own  self  bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree, 
that  we,  being  dead  to  sins,  should  live  unto  righteousness  :  by  whose 
stripes  ye  were  healed.  For  ye  were  as  sheep  gone  astray,  but 
are  now  returned  unto  the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  your  souls." 


LESSON  XV. 

FROM  the  immense  disproportion  between  our  finite  minds  and 
the  infinite  objects  of  future  hope,  our  conceptions  of  the  disim- 
bodied  spirit  must  necessarily  be  feeble.  But  while  we  anticipate 
the  promised  freedom  of  the  celestial  world,  the  disenthralrnent  of 
our  intellectual  faculties,  and  the  deliverance  of  our  moral  powers 
from  all  corruption,  the  mind  .becomes  more  and  more  habituated 
to  the  scenes  thus  disclosed,  and  even  reaches  to  prospects  of  re 
splendent  beauty ;  to  visions  of  unclouded  truth  ;  to  the  solution 
of  the  little  difficulties  of  our  own  earthly  trials  ;  to  the  evolutions 
of  the  Divine  character  in  connection  with  our  little  planet,  and 
even  to  that  infinitude  that  mocks  the  bounds  of  time  and  space. 

Thus  the  pious  Christian,  who  meditates  upon  God  and  the 
heavens,  the  work  of  his  hand,  feels  a  divine  influence  spread  over 
his  soul,  while  the  active  and  the  retired,  the  ardent  and  the 
timid,  the  philosopher  whose  mind  is  illumined  by  the  varied  lights 
of  science,  and  the  pious  slave,  whose  researches  are  confined  to  the 
sayings  of  some  unlettered  expositor,  will  each  cherish  anticipa 
tions  congenial  to  his  peculiar  state  of  mind.  Yet  all  will  grow  in 
grace  ;  all  will  rise  above  the  level  of  temporal  delights ;  and  all 
will  embrace  in  their  expanding  conceptions  the  mighty  import  of 
that  glorious  promise,  that  "  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard, 
neither  hath  it  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  that  God 
hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him,"  ICor.  ii.  9,  till  elevated  so 
far  above  earthly  associations,  that  each  can  say,  "  I  shall  be  satis 
fied  when  I  awake  in  thy  likeness."  Ps.  xvii.  15. 

What  degree  of  moral  likeness  will  gradually  be  produced  by  a 
near  contemplation  of  unveiled  perfection  is  reserved  for  eternity 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  429 

to  disclose.  But  the  time  will  at  length  come  when  to  every  sin 
cere  Christian  and  true  disciple,  dazzled  by  the  refulgence  that 
will  break  upon  his  astonished  sight,  Jesus  Christ  will  address  the 
language  of  affection,  as  he  did  to  Martha  :  "  Said  I  not  unto  thee 
that  if  thou  wouldst  believe  thou  shouldst  see  the  glory  of  God  ?" 
John  xi.  40. 

"  Then  we  all,  with  open  face,  beholding,  as  in  a  glass,  the  glory 
of  God,  are  changed  into  the  same  image,  from  glory  to  glory." 
2  Cor.  iii.  18. 

Such,  then,  is  the  picture  and  such  the  prospect  of  the  Christian  ' 
character ;  and  well  may  Christians,  even  the  slave,  "  Reckon  that 
the  sufferings  of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared 
with  the  glory  which  shall  be  revealed."  Rom.  viii.  18. 

From  the  monarch  down,  viewed  from  the  distance  of  eternity, 
man  occupies  but  a  point.  All  earthly  distinctions  become  so 
small  that  nothing  short  of  the  eye  of  omnipotence  can  see  them. 
The  same  language  describes,  and  the  same  God  will  prepare  their 
rest. 

The  Christian  slave  feels  exalted  even-  while  on  earth,  for  he  is 
well  persuaded  "  that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  princi 
palities,  nor  power,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor 
height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us 
from  the  love  of  God."  Rom.  viii.  38. 

If  for  a  few  days  the  afflicted  Christian  and  slave  "  wander  in 
the  wilderness  in  a  solitary  way;"  if,  "hungry  and  thirsty,  their 
souls  faint  in  them,"  he  is  yet  "hastening  to  a  city  of  habita 
tions."  Ps.  cvii.4,  5,  7. 

If  even  the  sun  of  his  earthly  hopes  be  set,  yet  he  is  hastening 
to  a  country  where  "thy  sun  shall  no  more  go  down;  neither 
shall  thy  moon  withdraw  itself;  for  the  Lord  shall  be  thine  ever 
lasting  light,  and  the  days  of  thy  mourning  shall  be  ended." 
Isa.  Ix.  20. 

With  such  views  the  heart  is  elevated  above  the  pains  and  mise 
ries  of  this  transitory  world  to  the  contemplation  of  hope  celestial. 
The  mere  philosopher,  who  views  the  mutilated  structure  of  the 
moral  world,  sees  no  renovating  principle  to  reorganize  its  scattered 
fragments.  He  mourns  with  unavailing  sorrow  over  the  ruins  of 
his  race,  and  chills  with  horror  at  the  prospect  of  his  own  decay. 
But  the  Christian  sees  a  fairer  earth  and  a  more  radiant  heaven. 
And  should  the  poor  slave,  forgetful  of  this  high  destiny  of  his 
Christian  character,  and  of  his  ultimate  home,  feeling,  like  Hagar, 


430  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

the  slave  of  Sarah,  the  hand  of  his  mistress  dealing  hardly  by 
him,  and,  like  her,  attempt  a  remedy  by  flight ;  like  her,  he  will 
hear  the  voice  of  God,  saying,  "  Return  to  thy  mistress,  and  sub 
mit  thyself  under  her  hand."  Gf-en.  xvi.  9. 

Like  her,  in  humble  submission,  he  obeys  the  command,  and 
prays,  "  0  Lord,  correct  me,"  for  "  I  know  that  the  way  of  man  is 
not  in  himself;  it  is  not  in  man  that  walketh  to  direct  his  steps." 
Jer.  x.  23. 

In  the  miseries  and  vanities  with  which  he  is  surrounded,  the 
Christian  only  sees  proofs  of  a  fallen,  not  of  a  hopeless  state.  He, 
like  old  .ZEneas,  is  seeking  and  looking  for  a  home  in  a  foreign 
land,  and,  like  him,  constantly  requires  the  interposition  of  some 
friendly  providence  to  warn  him  that  he  is  still  distant  from  the 
destined  shores. 

Mutandae  sedes  ;  non  base  tibi  littora  suasit, 

Delias,  aut  Cretse  jussit  considere  Apollo. — 2d  JEnead. 

Like  the  Israelites,  he  has  pitched  his  tent  in  a  wilderness  of 
sin,  and  feels  grateful  for  those  afflictions  that  reiterate  the  admo 
nition  :  "  Arise  and  depart,  for  this  is  not  your  rest."  Micali  ii.  10. 

He  knows  that  "this  corruptible  will  put  on  incorruption,  that 
this  mortal  will  put  on  immortality,  and  that  as  he  has  borne  the 
image  of  the  earthly,  he  shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly." 
See  1  Cor.  xv.  49,  53. 

Why  then  should  our  hearts  sink  in  sadness,  because,  as  we 
have  seen,  sin  has  destroyed  the  balance  of  moral  power  among 
men? — even  the  foundation  on  which  their  universal  equality  could 
exist,  whence  some  races  of  men  have  gone  deep  down  in  the  pit  of 
human  degradation,  until  the  man  and  the  brute  are  found  in  the 

O  ' 

same  animal  tenement. 

Such  is  the  poisonous  nature  of  sin,  that  the  heart  that  deviseth 
wicked  imaginations  always  finds  "  feet  running  swiftly  to  ruin." 
See  Prov.  vi.  18. 

But  God  hath  promised  that  the  remnant  of  Israel  shall  not 
speak  lies  :  "  Neither  shall  a  deceitful  tongue  be  found  in  their 
mouth,  for  they  shall  feed  and  lie  down,  and  none  shall  make  them 
afraid."  Zeph.  iii.  12,  13. 

But  the  ways  of  God  are  not  as  the  ways  of  man ;  he  makes  his 
enemies  build  his  throne. 

Therefore,  be  ye  not  deceived,  for  "there  shall  be  false 
teachers  among  you,  who  privily  shall  bring  in  damnable  heresies, 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  431 

even  denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them,  and  bring  upon  them 
selves  swift  destruction."  2  Pet.  ii.  1. 

Study  and  pray  to  improve  the  powers  that  God  hath  given, 
while  you  compare  the  things  that  be  with  the  causes  and  designs  of 
Providence  ;  and  while  you  note  that  "  the  evil  bow  before  the  good, 
and  the  wicked  at  the  gates  of  the  righteous,"  note  also  that  "the 
way  of  the  ungodly  shall  perish."  They  shall  be  "  like  the  chaff 
which  the  wind  driveth  away."  For  "  the  hand  of  the  diligent  shall 
bear  rule ;  but  the  slothful  shall  be  under  tribute."  "  He  that  hath 
not  sells  himself  to  him  that  hath."  Therefore,  "the  borrower  is 
servant  to  the  lender,"  and  wherefore,  "wisdom  is  better  than 
rubies  ;"  for  "by  me  princes  rule,  and  nobles,  even  all  the  judges 
of  the  earth.  I  love  them  that  love  me,  and  those  that  seek  me 
early  shall  find  me.  Riches  and  honour  are  with  me  :  yea,  durable 
riches  and  righteousness." 

But  God  hath  promised  that  "  the  whole  earth  shall  be  full  of 
the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea."  Isa.  xi.  9. 
Therefore,  so  long  as  the  tares  and  the  wheat  shall  grow  toge 
ther,  "  Wait  ye  upon  me,  saith  the  Lord,  until  the  day  that  I  will 
rise  up  to  the  prey  :  for  my  determination  is  to  gather  the  nations, 
that  I  may  assemble  the  kingdoms  to  pour  out  upon  them  mine 
indignation,  even  all  my  fierce  anger ;  for  all  the  earth  shall  be 
devoured  with  the  fife  of  my  jealousy.  For  then  will  I  turn  to 
the  people  a  pure  language  that  they  may  all  call  on  the  name  of 
the  Lord,  to  serve  him  with  one  consent.  From  beyond  the 
rivers  of  Ethiopia  my  suppliants,  even  the  daughter  of  my  dis 
persed,  (*^iD"n5  Bath  Putsi,  the  daughter  of  Phut,  the  most 
degraded  of  the  African  tribes,)  shall  bring  mine  offering." 
Zeph.  iii.  8-10. 

The  slavery  of  the  African  tribes  to  those  of  thp  true  faith 
is  here  clearly  announced,  and  the  great  benefit  of  their  conver 
sion  to  the  worship  of  the  true  God  proclaimed  as  an  abundant 
reason. 

Thus  Isaiah,  speaking  of  the  house  of  Israel,  the  prototype  of  the 
church  of  God,  says — "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  The  labour  of  Egypt, 
and  the  merchandise  of  Ethiopia  and  the  Sabeans,  men  of  stature, 
shall  come  over  unto  thee,  and  they  shall  be  thine ;  they  shall 
come  after  thee ;  in  chains  they  shall  come  over,  they  shall  fall 
down  unto  thee  ;  they  shall  make  supplication  unto  thee,  saying, 
Verily,  God  is  in  thee,  and  there  is  no  God"  beside.  Isa.  xlv.  14. 

And  these  people,  in  a  state  of  pupilage,  are  thus  referred  to  by 


432  STUDIES   ON    SLAVEKY. 

ZepJianiah:  "  I  will  also  leave  in  the  midst  of  thee  an  afflicted  and 
poor  people,  and  they  shall  trust  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." 

God  ever  requires  of  the  powerful  the  protection  of  the  weak, 
of  the  more  learned  the  instruction  of  the  ignorant,  and  of  the 
more  wise  the  government  of  those  who  cannot  govern  themselves. 

"  For  so  hath  the  Lord  commanded  us,  saying,  I  have  set  thee 
to  be  a  light  to  the  Gentiles,  that  thou  shouldest  be  for  salvation 
unto  the  ends  of  the  earth."  Acts  xiii.  47. 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  433 


LESSON  I. 

SIN  is  any  want  of  a  conformity  to  the  law  of  God.  Man  was 
created  free  from  sin.  He  was  placed  under  the  government  of 
laws  adapted  to  his  condition.  But  a  want  of  conformity  to  any 
item  of  such  law  necessarily  disorganized  and  deranged  some  por 
tion  of  his  original  condition.  Let  us  cast  a  hasty  view  at  the 
operation  of  these  laws.  It  is  contrary  to  the  law  of  God  that  a 
man  should  put  his  hand  in  the  fire  ;  when  he  does  so,  his  condition 
is  somewhat  physically  changed,  and  he  is  in  trouble. 

It  is  contrary  to  the  law  of  God  that  a  man  should  bear  false 
testimony ;  he  having  done  so,  his  condition  is  changed  mentally, 
and  his  troubles  increase. 

It  is  contrary  to  the  law  of  God  that  a  man  should  remain  igno 
rant  ;  he  doing  so,  is  not  in  the  condition  of  him  who  has  multi 
plied  and  replenished  his  mental  and  physical  capabilities :  he  is 
less  capable,  he  has  less  power. 

The  law  of  God  is  all  powerful,  and  will  be  executed.  The 
punishment  of  its  breach  is  certain.  It  is  effect  following  cause. 
The  whole  of  God's  creation  is  planned  by  this  principle. 

A  want  of  conformity  to  the  law  operates  as  a  poison,  that 
spreads  through  the  moral  and  physical  man,  sinking,  forcing  him 
down  to  trouble,  pain,  misery,  ruin,  and  death. 

The  boy,  intending  to  appropriate  to  himself,  takes  a  pin.  If 
there  is  naught  that  checks  him,  petty  thefts  push  him  on  to  deeper 
crimes,  that  end  in  death.  The  young  gentleman  drinks  the  social 
glass,  nor  thinks  harm  to  himself;  he  feels  strong,  he  fears  no 
thing  :  but  habit  becomes  excess  ;  his  physical  appearance  becomes 
sickly;  his  mind  obtuse,  his  pleasures  gross;  his  condition  is 
changed ;  he  is  evidently  tending  downwards  to  the  grave.  And 


434  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

such  are  the  course  and  progress  of  every  other  sin  ;  for,  whatever 
has  a  tendency  to  injure  the  character,  health,  mind,  and  body,  is 
sin. 

Speculators  upon  the  holy  writ  may  say  what  they  will ;  yet  it 
is  certain,  that  act,  called  the  eating  the  apple,  was  an  act,  what 
ever  it  may  have  been,  that  necessarily  injured  the  character, 
health,  mind,  and  body  of  man.  It  is  certain,  because  it  did  so. 
It  was  the  very  birth  of  death  itself.  The  wages  of  sin  are  death — 
the  Lord  God  Almighty  hath  spoken  it ! !  Another  law  of  God, 
till  then  unknown  to  man,  was  brought  instantly  into  operation. 
His  wants  were  changed ;  the  earth  no  longer  produced  sponta 
neously  to  them.  In  the  emphatic  language  of  that  day,  it  was 
cursed,  that  he  might  have  less  leisure  time  and  opportunity  to 
continue  in  the  downward  course  of  sin  to  sudden  destruction  and 
death.  He  was  in  great  mercy  condemned  to  labour  for  the  sup 
ply  of  his  daily  wants ;  he  was  made  the  slave  to  the  necessities 
of  animal  life.  Is  it  necessary  to  quote  Scripture  to  show  that  it 
abounds  with  the  doctrine  that  idleness  is  a  wonderful  promoter 
of  sin  ?  God  in  great  mercy  contrived  that  his  hungry  body  and 
naked  back  should  in  some  measure  keep  him  from  it. 

"  Therefore,  the  Lord  sent  him  forth  from  the  garden  of  Eden  to 
till  the  ground  from  which  he  was  taken."  Gen.  iii.  23,  "  To  till" 

is  translated  from  13^7  la  avod,  to  slave.  It  is  the  very  word 
that  means  a  slave ;  but  is  here  used  as  a  verb,  and  literally  means 
to  slave  the  ground.  In  this  early  instance  of  its  use  in  holy  writ, 
in  relation  to  man,  it  is  used  as  a  verb,  to  show  us,  not  that  he  had 
become  the  property  of  any  other  person,  but  a  slave  to  his  own 
necessities,  and  that  the  labour  required  was  the  labour  of  a  slave. 

Until  man  had  become  poisoned  by  sin  there  was  no  want  of  a 
law,  of  an  institution  to  interpose  between  him  and  his  sudden 
destruction  and  death. 

This  is  the  first  degree  of  slavery  among  poor,  fallen  men,  and 
upon  which  now  depend  their  health,  happiness,  and  continuance 
of  life. 


STUDIES  ON  SLAVERY.  435 


LESSON  II. 

"  BUT  Cain  was  a  tiller  of  the  ground."  The  word  tiller  is  trans 
lated  from  the  same  word  used  as  a  noun,  a  slave  of  the  ground, 
having  reference  to  its  cultivation  for  his  support  and  sustenance. 
And  here  we  see  the  peculiar  propriety  of  the  language  of  the 
Psalmist :  "  He  causeth  the  grass  to  grow  for  the  cattle,  and  herb 
for  the  service  of  man,  that  he  may  bring  forth  food  out  of  the 
earth."  Ps.  civ.  14.  In  this  instance,  "service"  means  slavery, 
and  is  translated  from  the  same  word,  rnDtf^  la  avodath.  "  He 

'         j-      *- :  i- 

causeth  the  grass  to  grow  for  the  cattle,  and  herb  for  the  slavery 
of  man,  that  he  may  bring  forth  food  out  of  the  earth." 

But  we  are  directly  informed  that  the  Lord  had  no  respect  for 
the  offering  of  Cain ;  that  Cain  was  very  wroth,  and  his  counte 
nance  fell;  and  the  Lord  reasoned  with  him  and  said,  "If  thou 
doest  well,  shalt  thou  not  be  accepted  ?  and  if  thou  doest  not  well, 
sin  lieth  at  the  door  ;"  also  promising  him,  if  he  would  do  well,  he 
should  have  rule  over  his  younger  brother  !  All  this  shows  that 
Cain's  progress  in  sin  had  become  very  considerable,  notwithstand 
ing  the  mild  yet  unavoidable  slavery  already  imposed.  But,  like 
many  other  sinners,  he  ran  his  race  rapidly,  until  his  hands  were 
dyed  in  his  brother's  blood. 

"  When  thou  tillest  the  ground,  it  shall  not  henceforth  yield 
unto  thee  her  strength  :  a  fugitive  and  a  vagabond  shalt  thou  be 
in  the  earth."  Gen.  iv.  12.  Here  tillest  is  also  translated  from 
the  same  word,  and  means  "when  thouslavest  the  ground,"  showing 
most  clearly  that  the  slavery  imposed  on  Adam  was  attached  to 
Cain,  with  the  additions,  that  the  earth  should  not  yield  unto  him 
her  strength, — that  he  should  be  a  fugitive  and  a  vagabond, — and 
a  mark  was  placed  upon  him.  The  expression  that  the  ground 
should  not  yield  unto  him  its  strength,  may  be  understood  to  mean 
that  it  should  not  be  as  productive,  or,  that  some  other  person 
should  enjoy  a  portion  of  the  benefit  of  his  labour,  or  in  fact 
both :  his  labours  were  to  be  in  some  measure  fruitless.  And  let 
us  notice  how  this  portion  of  his  sentence  compares  with  other  an 
nouncements  of  Jehovah : 


436  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

"  Treasures  of  wickedness  profit  nothing,  but  righteousness  de- 
Hvereth  from  death." 

"  The  Lord  will  not  suffer  the  soul  of  the  righteous  to  famish,  but 
he  casteth  away  the  substance  of  the  wicked." 

"  The  hand  of  the  diligent  shall  bear  rule,  but  the  slothful  shall 
be  under  tribute." 

"  Poverty  and  shame  shall  be  to  him  that  refuses  instruction, 
but  he  that  regardeth  reproof  shall  be  honoured." 

"A  good  man  leaveth  an  inheritance  to  his  children's  children, 
but  the  wealth  of  the  sinner  is  laid  up  for  the  just." 

"  The  righteous  eateth  to  the  satisfying  of  his  soul,  but  the  belly 
of  the  wicked  shall  want."  Proverbs. 

"He  should  be  a  fugitive  and  a  vagabond. 

"  The  wicked  flee  when  no  man  pursueth ;  but  the  righteous  are 
bold  as  a  lion."  Prov.  xxviii.  1. 

"  Blessed  is  the  man  that  walketh  not  in  the  counsel  of  the  un 
godly,  nor  standeth  in  the  way  of  sinners,  nor  sitteth  in  the  seat 
of  the  scornful.  But  his  delight  is  in  the  law  of  the  Lord ;  and 
his  law  doth  he  meditate  day  and  night.  And  he  shall  be  like 
a  tree  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water,  that  bringeth  forth  his  fruit 
in  his  season ;  his  leaf  also  shall  not  wither ;  and  whatsoever  he 
doeth  shall  prosper.  The  ungodly  are  not  so,  but  are  like  the  chaff 
which  the  wind  driveth  away.  Therefore  the  ungodly  shall  not 
stand  in  the  judgment,  nor  sinners  in  the  congregation  of  the 
righteous.  For  the  Lord  knoweth  the  way  of  the  righteous  ;  but 
the  way  of  the  ungodly  shall  perish."  Ps.  i. 

And  again  :  "  Set  thou  a  wicked  man  over  him  ;  and  let  Satan 
stand  at  his  right  hand.     When  he  shall  be  judged,  let  him  be  con 
demned  ;  and  let  his  prayer  become  sin.     Let  his  days  be  few,  and 
let  another  take  his  office.     Let  his  children  be  fatherless,  and  his 
wife  a  widow.     Let  his  children  be  continually  vagabonds  and  beg ; 
let  them  seek  their  bread  also  out  of  their  desolate  places.     Let 
the  extortioner  catch  all  that  he  hath ;  and  let  the  strangers  spoil 
his  labour.     Let  there  be  none  to  extend  mercy  unto  him  :  neither 
let  there  be  any  to  favour  his  fatherless  children.     Let  his  posterity 
be  cut  off;  and  in  the  generation  following  let  their  name  be  blotted 
out.     Let  the  iniquities  of  his  fathers  be  remembered  with  the  Lord, 
and  let  not  the  sin  of  his  mother  be  blotted  out."  Ps.  cix.  6-14. 
Such  is  the  prospect  of  the  desperately  wicked:  "The  curse^of 
the  Lord  is  in  the  house  of  the  wicked  :  but  heblesseth  the  habita 
tion  of  the  just."  Prov.  iii.  33. 


STUDIES   ON  SLAVERY.  437 


LESSON  III. 

BUT  Cain  had  a  mark  set  upon  him.     The  word  translated  mark 

is  HlK  oth :  it  means  a  mark  of  a  miraculous  nature,  whereby  some 
future  thing  is  of  a  certainty  known,  and  may  be  something  done 
or  only  said.  Whatever  it  may  have  been,  the  object  was  to  pre 
vent  him  from  being  slain  by  any  one  meeting  him,  by  its  procla 
mation  of  the  burden  of  the  curses  under  which  he  laboured.  It 
was,  therefore,  absolutely  the  mark  of  sin,  sealing  upon  him  and 
his  race  this  secondary  degree  of  slavery.  The  mark  distin 
guished  them  as  low  and  servile  as  well  as  wicked,  and  hence 
its  protective  influence. 

But  what  was  the  mark  of  sin  ?  What  is  it  now  ?  and  what 
has  it  ever  been?  If  one  is  accused  of  some  vile  offence,  a  little 
presumptive  evidence  will  make  us  say,  It  is  a  very  dark  crime ;  it 
makes  him  look  very  black.  This  figure,  if  it  be  one,  now  so  often 
applied,  is  so  strongly  used  in  Scripture,  and  in  fact  by  all  in  every 
age,  that  the  idea  seems  well  warranted  that  the  downward,  hu 
miliating  course  of  sin  has  a  direct  tendency,  by  the  Divine  law,  to 
even  physically  degrade,  perhaps  blacken  and  disbeautify,  the 
animal  man. 

A  similar  doctrine  was  well  known  to  the  Greeks.  Demosthenes 
says  to  the  Athenians,  "  It  is  impossible  for  him  who  commits  low, 
dishonourable,  and  wicked  acts,  not  to  possess  a  low,  dirty  intel 
lect  ;  for,  as  the  person  of  a  man  receives,  as  it  were,  a  colouring 
from  his  conduct,  so  does  the  mind  take  upon  itself  a  clothing 
from  the  same  acts."  See  Second  Olynthiac.  So*bhe  Arabians: 
"  God  invited  unto  the  dwelling  of  peace,  and  directed  whom  he 
pleaseth  into  the  right  way.  They  who  do  right  shall  receive  a 
most  excellent  reward,  and  a  superabundant  addition;  neithei 
blackness  nor  shame  shall  cover  their  faces."  Koran,  chap.  x. 

"  On  the  day  of  the  resurrection,  thou  shalt  see  the  faces  oi 
those  who  have  uttered  lies  concerning  God,  become  black.' 
Koran,  chap,  xxxix. 

So,  the  Mohammedan  belief  is  that  a  man  who  has  some  good 
qualities  may  die ;  but,  on  the  account  of  his  wickedness,  he  wiP 
be  sent  to  h^U,  and  there  tormented  until  his  skin  is  black ;  but 


t38  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

that  if  he  shall  ever  be  taken  thence,  by  the  mercy  of  God,  he 
will  be  immersed  in  the  river  of  life,  and  his  skin  become  whiter 
than  pearls ;  see  PococJc,  notis  in  part.  Moris,  p.  289  and  292 ; 
but  that  the  faces  of  the  wicked  will  ever  remain  black.  See 
YalJcut  Shemuni,  part  ii.  fol.  86  ;  also  Sale,  Prelim.  Disc. 
p.  104,  105. 

So  the  Mohammedan  tradition,  that  the  bad  spirits,  Monker  and 
Nakir,  who,  upon  the  death  of  a  man,  come  to  examine  him,  are 
awful  and  black.  See  Prelim.  Disc.  p.  90.  And  hence  the  belief 
is  that  the  wicked,  even  before  judgment,  will  stand  looking  up  to 
God  with  their  faces  obscured  by  blackness  and  disfigured  by  all 
the  marks  of  sorrow  and  deformity.  Idem,  p.  99. 

So  also  the  fable,  that  a  precious  stone  of  paradise  fell  down  to 
the  earth  to  Adam,  whiter  than  milk,  but  turned  black  by  the 
touch  of  a  wicked  woman,  or,  as  others  say,  by  wickedness  of 
mankind  generally;  but  the  story  is  that  its  blackness  is  only 
skin-deep,  and  hence  the  Arabians  carefully  preserved  it  in  the 
Caaba  at  Mecca.  Idem,  p.  125.  Also,  Al  ZamaJch,  &c.  in  Koran  ; 
and  Ahmed  Eben  Yusef;  and  PococJc,  Spec.  p.  117. 

Similar  traditions  and  quotations  may  be  gathered  from  all 
quarters  of  the  world,  and  from  all  portions  of  time ;  but  let  us 
turn  to  the  book  that  never  lies  nor  misleads.  "Behold,  I  am 
against  thee,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  and  I  will  discover  thy 
skirts  upon  thy  face,  and  I  will  show  the  nations  thy  nakedness, 
and  the  kingdoms  thy  shame."  Nahum,  iii.  5. 

The  word  here  translated  skirts,  is  Tj^W  sJmlaik.  We  believe 
that  all  scholars  agree  the  Hebrew  root  of  this  word  is  borrowed 

from    the  Arabic    AjJ>,   of  which   the   meaning    is  postremum 

cujusque  rei ;  and,  hence  the  idea  skirt,  the  extreme  of  something 
hanging  down,  tending  downward. 

And  from  the  same  source  we  have  the  Hebrew  word 
sholal,  a  captive,  a  thing  captured,  &c.,  because  the  captive  is  in 

an  extreme  condition ;  and  thus  7W  shul  is  made  to  mean  a  hem 
or  skirt,  from  its  cognate  and  Arabic  root,  the  extreme  of  some 
thing  tending  downwards.  Thus  ()£  shaal,  to  be  loose,  to  hang 
down.  From  these  considerations,  the  word  was  often  used  to  mean 
a  prisoner,  a  captive.  Thus,  Job  xii.  19 :  "  He  leadeth  princes 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  439 


away  spoiled,"  7?1t^  sholal,  captive,  reduced  to  the  lowest  ex 
tremity,  &c. 

Therefore,  although  perhaps  not  as  literal,  the  idea  of  the  pro 
phet  would  have  been  more  exactly  conveyed  had  it  been  trans 
lated,  "And  I  will  discover  the  low  extremity  of  your  condition 
upon  your  face  ;"  and  in  this  same  sense  the  word  is  used  in  Jer. 
xiii.  22  :  "If  thou  say  in  thine  heart,  Wherefore  come  these  things 
upon  me?  For  the  greatness  of  thine  iniquity  are  thy  skirts 

OV/W  shulaik)  discovered,  and  thy  heels  made  bare."  Evidently 
proclaiming  the  doctrine,  that  a  course  of  sin,  through  the  Divine 
providence,  will  leave  its  mark. 

"  She  is  empty,  and  void,  and  waste,  and  the  heart  melteth,  and 
the  knees  smite  together,  and  much  pain  is  in  all  loins,  and  the 
faces  of  them  all  gather  blackness.  Behold,  I  am  against  thee, 
saith  the  Lord."  Nah.  ii.  10,  13. 

"  At  Tehaphnehes  also  the  day  shall  be  darkened,  when  I  shall 
break  there  the  yokes  of  Egypt  ;  and  the  pomp  of  her  strength 
shall  cease  in  her  :  as  for  her,  a  cloud  shall  cover  her,  and  her 
daughters  shall  go  into  captivity.  Thus  will  I  execute  judgments 
in  Egypt:  and  they  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord."  Ezek.  xxx. 
18,  19. 

"  Our  necks  are  under  persecution  :  we  labour  and  have  no  rest. 
We  have  given  the  hand  to  the  Egyptains,  and  to  the  Assyrians, 
to  be  satisfied  with  bread.  Our  fathers  have  sinned,  and  are  not  ; 

and  we  have  borne  their  iniquities.  Servants  (DHDj£  dbadim, 
slaves)  have  ruled  over  us  :  there  is  none  that  doth  deliver  us  out 
of  their  hand.  We  get  our  bread  with  the  peril  of  our  lives,  be 
cause  of  the  sword  of  the  wilderness.  Our  skin  is  black  like  an 
oven,  because  of  the  terrible  famine."  Lam.  v.  5-10. 

"For  the  hurt  of  the  daughter  of  my  people  I  am  hurt  ;  I  am 
black  ;  astonishment  hath  taken  hold  on  me."  Jer.  viii.  21. 

"Judah  mourneth,  and  the  gates  thereof  languish;  they  are 
black  unto  the  ground;  and  the  cry  of  Jerusalem  is  gone  up." 
Jer.  xiv.  2. 

"  Her  Nazarites  were  purer  than  snow  ;  they  were  whiter  than 
milk  ;  they  were  more  ruddy  in  body  than  rubies  ;  their  polishing 
was  of  sapphire.  Their  visage  is  blacker  than  a  coal  ;  they  are 
not  known  in  the  streets."  Lam.  iv.  7,  8. 

"  For  ye  are  not  come  unto  the  mount  that  might  be  touched, 


440  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


and  that  burned  with  fire ;  nor  unto  blackness,  and  darkness,  and 
teropest."  Heb.  xii.  18. 

"  Raging  waves  of  the  sea,  foaming  out  their  own  shame ; 
wandering  stars,  to  whom  is  reserved  the  blackness  of  darkness 
for  ever."  Jude  13. 

"  For  though  thou  wash  thee  with  nitre,  and  take  thee  much 
soap,  yet  thine  iniquity  is  marked  before  me,  saith  the  Lord  God." 
Jer.  ii.  22. 

"  The  show  of  their  countenance  doth  witness  against  them." 
Isa.  iii.  9. 


LESSON  IV. 

BUT  experience  proved  that  even  this  second  degree  of  slavery 
was  not  a  sufficient  preventive  of  sin  to  preserve  man  upon  the 
earth.  "  That  the  sons  of  God  saw  the  daughters  of  men,  that 
they  were  fair ;  and  they  took  them  wives  of  all  which  they  chose. 
And  the  Lord  said,  My  spirit  shall  not  always  strive  with  man." 
G-en.  vi.  2,  3.  The  word  translated  "fair,"  and  applied  to  the 
daughters  of  men,  is  fOD  to  voth;  it  is  in  the  feminine  plural,  and 
comes  from  DtO  tav,  and  cognate  with  the  Syriac  word  cnid^  tov 
or  tob  ;  it  merely  means  good,  excellent,  as  the  quality  may  exist  in 
the  mind  of  the  person  taking  cognisance. 

It  implies  no  quality  of  virtue  or  complexion,  but  in  its  use  is  re 
flective  back  to  the  nominative.  It  is  one  of  those  words  which 
we  find  in  all  languages,  of  which  rather  a  loose  use  is  made.  We 
find  it  in  Dan.  ii.  32,  (the  31st  of  the  English  text,)  "excellent;" 
also  Ezrav.Vf,  "good."  When  it  is  said  of  Sarah,  in  Gren.  xii.  11, 
that  she  was  "fair,"  meaning  that  she  was  of  a  light  complexion, 
the  word  HiD*  yepliath  is  used,  and  is  the  same  with  our  Japheth, 
the  son  of  Noah,  and  comes  from  #$*  yaplia,  and  means  to  shine, 
to  ^give  light,  and,  as  an  adjective,  well  means  lightness  of  com 
plexion,  fairness,  and  brilliancy  of  beauty.  So  mUsth.il  7,  "and 
the  maid  was  fair  and  beautiful,"  j"lip.'  yepliath.  1  Sam.  xvi.  12, 
"  Now  he  was  ruddy  and  of  a  fair  countenance,"  Hfi?  yepha. 
1  Kings  i.  4,  "  and  the  damsel  was  fair,"  Jl|P  yaphah. 

It  is  true  that  in  Solomons  Song,  i.  16,  "  Behold,  thou  art  fair, 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  441 


my  beloved," — ii.  10,  "My  beloved  spake  and  said  unto  me,  Rise 
up  my  love,  my  fair  one,  and  come  away," — iv.  1,  "  Behold,  thou 
art  fair,  my  love  ;  behold,  thou  art  fair  ;  thou  hast  doves'  eyes,"- 
iv.  7,  "Thou  art  fair,  my  love;  there  is  no  spot  in  thee,"  and 
also  v.  9,  "  0  thou  fairest  among  women,"  the  word  J7§>  yaphq, 
in  grammatical  form,  is  used  in  the  original,  and  that  the  term  is 
applied  to  a  black  woman.  But  this  whole  song  is  written  in  hy 
perbole.  In  the  description  of  Solomon's  person,  it  says,  v.  11, 
"  His  head  is  as  the  most  fine  gold  ;"  in  the  original,  "  His  head  is 
the  most  fine  gold."  14  :  "  His  hands  are  as  gold  rings  set  with  the 
beryl :  his  belly  as  bright  ivory  overlaid  with  sapphires.  15 :  His 
legs  are  as  pillars  of  marble,  set  upon  sockets  of  gold :  his  counte 
nance  is  as  Lebanon,  excellent  as  the  cedars." 

Asiatic  poetry  always  abounded  in  hyperbole.  Thus  an  Arabian 
poet,  speaking  of  his  mistress,  says — 

"  I  behold  in  tliine  eyes,  angels  looking  at  me. 
Deformity  in  another^ in  thee  is  excellent  beauty  ; 
The  garments  of  the  shepherd,  upon  thee,  are  the  finest  tissue, 
And  brass  ornaments  become  fine  gold. 
Thy  excellence,  so  great  among  men,  the  god  beholds, 
And  is  astonished  at  thy  beauty." 

It  is  not  from  such  productions  that  we  are  to  look  for  the  sim 
ple,  original,  and  radical  meaning  of  terms  ;  and  probably  even  in 
the  case  of  Canticles,  the  word  ]/§>  yapha  would  not  have  been 
allowed  by  the  rules  of  composition,  had  it  not  been  first  announced 
in  a  calm,  initiatory  manner,  that  she  was  a  black  woman,  in  order 
that  no  misconception  might  arise  from  such  hyperbole. 

Let  us  suppose  ourselves  in  Arabia,  and  some  poet  announces 
that,  for  our  evening  entertainment  and  diversion,  he  will  deliver 
a  panegyric  upon  some  black  woman,  and,  among  other  things, 
says — 

Thy  neck  is  as  a  tower  of  ivory. 

Thy  teeth  are  like  a  flock  of  sheep. 

Thy  lips  are  like  a  thread  of  scarlet. 

Thy  nose  like  the  tower  of  Lebanon, 

That  looketh  towards  Damascus ; 

And  the  smell  of  thy  nose  like  apples ; 

And  the  smell  of  the  roof  of  thy  mouth  like  the  best  wine 

Thy  stature  is  like  the  palm-tree. 

Thy  skin  is  fairer  than  snow, 

And  thy  breasts  like  two  clusters  of  grapes. 


442  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


Thy  head  is  as  Mount  Carmel, 

And  the  hair  of  thy  head  like  purple, 

And  the  curls  of  thy  hair  like  a  flock  of  goats. 

Behold,  thou  art  fair,  my  love ;  thou  hast  doves'  eyes. 

True,  amid  such  hyperbole,  we  might  have  mistaken  her  colour, 
if  he  had  not  previously  informed  us  on  that  subject.  But,  as  it 
stands,  there  is  no  falsehood  asserted;  there  is  no  liability  to  mis 
take.  The  poet  merely  means  that,  at  least  in  his  conception,  she 
is  as  lovely,  beautiful,  and  desirable  as  all  those  hyperboles  would 
make  her.  And  we  think  we  have  reason  to  contend,  that  the  hy 
perbolic  use  of  the  word  ^§*  yapha,  in  Canticles,  does  not  alter  in 
any  sense  its  real  meaning,  or,  in  any  ordinary  use  of  language, 
make  it  a  term  applicable  to  people  of  colour,  or  in  any  sense  what 
ever  a  synonyme  of  the  ^D  tav,  or  j"Qb  to  vot^  as  use(^  ^n  Genesis. 

This  explanation  is  thought  necessary,  since  it  is  seen  that  we 
shall  hereafter  contend  that  the  descendants  of  Cain  were  black. 


LESSON  V. 

IF  we  take  the  passage,  G-en.  vi.  2,  3,  as  it  stands  in  connec 
tion,  it  seems  to  us  an  obvious  deduction  that  the  commingling  of 
the  races  of  Seth  and  Cain  was  obnoxious  to  the  Lord. 

It  is  placed  in  position  as  the  cause  why  his  Spirit  should  not 
always  strive.  He  saw  that  such  amalgamation  would,  did  dete 
riorate  and  destroy  the  more  holy  race  of  Seth ;  and  therefore 
determined,  with  grief  in  his  heart,  to  destroy  man  from  the  earth. 
All  were  swept  away,  except  Noah,  his  three  sons,  and  their  four 
wives.  Yet  sin  found  a  residence  among  the  sons  of  Noah,  and 
Canaan  was  doomed  to  perpetual  bondage,  as  it  now  exists  upon 
the  earth.  "  And  he  said,  Cursed  be  Canaan :  a  servant  of  ser 
vants  shall  he  be  unto  his  brethren.  And  he  said,  Blessed  be  the 
Lord  God  of  Shem,  and  Canaan  shall  be  his  servant.  God  shall 
enlarge  Japheth,  and  he  shall  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem,  and 
Canaan  shall  be  his  servant."  G-en.  ix.  25-2T. 

The  expression  "servant  of  servants"  is  translated  from  the 
words  DHDJ7  13J?  ebed  abadim,  slave  of  slaves.  The  expres 
sion  is  idiomatic,  and  means  the  most  abject  slave. 

In  the  passage  quoted,  the  word  servant,  in  all  cases,  is  trans- 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  443 

lated  from  ebed,  and  means  slave.  There  was  no  master  placed 
over  Adam, — it  is  not  certain  there  was  over  Cain, — but  here 
the  master  is  named  and  blessed ;  and  the  slave  is  named,  and 
his  slavery  pronounced  to  be  of  the  most  abject  kind.  If  we 
mistake  not,  it  is  an  article  of  the  Christian  creed  of  most  churches, 
that  Adam  was  the  federal  head  and  representative  of  his  race ; 
that  the  covenant  was  made,  not  only  with  Adam,  but  also  with 
his  posterity ;  that  the  guilt  of  his  sin  was  imputed  to  them  ;  that 
each  and  every  one  of  his  posterity  are  depraved  through  his  sin ; 
that  this,  their  original  sin,  is  properly  sin,  and  deserves  God's 
wrath  and  curse.  If  so,  can  we  say  less  in  the  case  of  Cain  ?  or 
that  a  new  relation  did  intervene  in  the  case  of  Ham  ? 


LESSON  VI. 

HAVING  traced  the  institution  of  slavery  down  to  its  third  and 
final  degree,  and  finding  it  firmly  lodged  in  the  family  of  Ham, 
let  us  now  inquire  what  proof  there  may  be  that  his  descendants 
are  also  the  descendants  and  race  of  Cain.  This  evidence  is  to 
be  found  in  the  fact,  1st.  That  the  descendants  of  Ham  were 
black,  inheriting  the  mark  of  Cain.  2d.  That  the  traditions  and 
memorials  of  the  family  of  Ham  are  also  traditions  and  memorials 
of  the  family  of  Cain.  3d.  That  Naamah,  of  the  family  of  Cain, 
is  found  to  be  kept  in  memory  by  the  earlier  descendants  of  Ham. 
4th.  That  the  characteristics  of  these  families  are  the  same,  and 
that  no  facts  are  found  to  exist  discordant  to  the  proposition  of 
their  being  one  and  the  same  race ;  but  on  the  contrary,  every 
vestige  of  them  is  in  unison  with  such  proposition. 

In  presenting  the  evidence  touching  the  several  facts'  of  the  in 
quiry,  we  cannot  claim  the  most  lucid  or  logical  arrangement,  nor 
that  our  remarks  will  be  classed  in  the  best  methodical  order  for 
the  subjects  of  consideration.  But  we  present  the  proposition 
that  aboriginal  names  are  always  significant  terms  :  thus,  Abram, 
the  high  father ;  Abraham,  the  father  of  a  multitude ;  Jacob,  hold 
ing  by  the  heel,  supplanting ;  Israel,  one  who  wrestles  with  God ; 
and  Cain,  one  that  has  been  purchased  or  bought :  "  And  she  bare 
Cain,  and  said,  I  have  gotten  a  man  from  the  Lord."  Gen.  iv.  1. 
The  word  Cain  is  from  mp  Cana,  and  means  to  buy,  to  purchase, 


444  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

and,  as  a  noun,  a  thing  bought;  and  the  word  "gotten,"  VVJp 
canithi,  terminating  with  its  verbal  formation,  means,  I  have  bought 
or  purchased — his  name  signified  one  purchased. 

There  is  an  allusion  to  Cain  in  the  Koran ;  and,  although  we  do 
not  present  it  as  or  for  authority,  yet  it  may  not  be  out  of  place 
to  notice  what  the  ancient  Arabians  have  said  on  the  subject: 
"  Verily,  I  (the  prophet)  am  no  other  than  a  denouncer  of  threats, 
and  a  messenger  of  good  tidings  unto  the  people  who  believed. 
It  is  he  who  hath  created  you  from  one  person  and  out  of  him 
produced  his  wife,  that  he  might  dwell  with  her ;  and  when  he  had 
known  her,  she  carried  a  light  burden  for  a  time,  wherefore  she 
walked  easily  therewith :  but  when  it  became  more  heavy,  they 
called  upon  God  their  Lord,  saying,  If  thou  give  us  a  child  rightly 
shaped,  we  will  surely  be  thankful.  Yet  when  he  had  given  them 
a  child  rightly  shaped,  they  attributed  companions  unto  him,  for 
that  which  he  had  given  them.  But  far  be  that  from  God,  which 
they  associated  with  him  !  Will  they  associate  with  him  false 
gods,  which  create  nothing,  but  are  themselves  created,  and  can 
neither  give  them  assistance  nor  help  themselves?"  Koran, 
chap.  vii. 

The  Arabian  commentators,  in  explanation  of  this  passage,  re 
late  a  tradition  among  them.  They  say,  when  Eve  was  big  with 
her  first  child,  the  devil  came  to  frighten  and  fill  her  mind  with 
apprehension.  But  he  pretended  to  her  that  by  his  prayers  to 
God  he  could  persuade  him  to  cause  her  to  have  a  well-shaped 
child,  a  son,  the  likeness  of  Adam,  and  that  she  should  be  safely 
delivered  of  it,  upon  the  condition  that  she  should  dedicate  or 
name  the  child  abed  al  hareth,  the  slave  of  the  devil,  instead  of  the 
name  that  Adam  would  give  it,  abed  Allah,  the  slave  of  Gf-od;  that 
Eve  accepted  the  terms,  and  the  child  was  born,  &c.  The  legend 
is  varied  by  the  commentators,  some  saying  the  child  died  as  soon 
as  born,  or  that  the  devil  applied  to  Adam  instead  of  Eve,  &c. ; 
but  they  all  agree  that  al  hareth  was  the  name  the  devil  went  by 
among  the  angels. 

It  is  a  little  remarkable  that  the  passage  in  G-en.  iv.  2, 
"But  Cain  was  a  tiller  of  the  ground,"  Heb.  obed  adamah,  the 
slave  of  the  ground,  would  be,  in  Arabic,  this  phrase,  abed  al 
hareth,  the  cognate  of  the  Hebrew  word  ^""Itf  erets,  the  earth. 
And  therefore  the  Arabic,  abed  al  hareth,  will  be  a  translation  of 
the  Hebrew  in  Genesis.  This  legend  will  be  found  mAlBeidawi, 
Jallado  ddin,  Zamakhshari,  et  al.  See  Sale's  Koran,  vol.  i.  p.  360. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  445 

The  discovery  of  the  western  continent  by  Columbus  was  the 
great  and  absorbing  event  of  the  age  in  which  it  happened.  It 
was  an  event  which,  in  consideration  of  the  characteristics  of 
men,  would  be  held  in  commemoration :  in  all  parts  of  the  world  it 
would  be  a  matter  of  such  record  as  literature  made  convenient, 
or  the  relative  influence  of  the  event  rendered  constant  to  the 
mind.  And  hence  we  find  it  referred  to  not  only  in  books,  but  in 
the  continent  discovered ;  it  is  commemorated  by  the  application 
of  the  name  of  the  discoverer  to  its  seas,  lakes,  rivers,  mountains, 
districts  of  country,  cities,  towns,  &c.  Now,  if  at  the  time  of  the 
event,  the  world  had  not  advanced  to  the  achievement  of  literary 
records,  it  is  evident  that  the  latter  mode  of  commemoration  could 
have  been  the  only  one  practicable  ;  and  history  shows  us  that  this 
mode  of  commemoration  was  adopted  at  the  earliest  ages,  nor  laid 
aside  even  at  this  day.  This  disposition  to  commemorate  is  one 
of  the  characteristics  of  the  whole  human  family.  Thus  Eve  com 
memorated  some  event,  described  as  the  purchase  of  her  first-born 
of  the  Lord,  by  giving  said  first-born  the  name  of  "  one  purchased ." 

"And  the  sons  of  Noah  that  went  forth  of  the  ark  were 
Shem,  and  Ham,  and  Japheth:  and  Ham  is  the  father  of  Canaan." 
"  And  Ham,  the  father  of  Canaan,  saw  the  nakedness  of  his  father, 
and  told  his  two  brethren  without."  "And  Noah  awoke  from  his 
wine,  and  knew  what  his  younger  son  had  done  unto  him.  And 
he  said.  Cursed  be  Canaan."  G-en.  ix.  18,  22,  24,  25.  The  things 
here  recorded  took  place  in  quick  succession  from  the  removal  of 
Noah's  family  from  the  ark.  Ham  ultimately  had  four  sons,  the 
youngest  of  whom  he  named  Canaan.  Is  there  any  evidence,  at 
the  time  of  these  records,  that  any  of  the  children  of  Ham  were 
born,  and  especially  his  youngest  ? 

It  does  appear  to  us  that  the  word  Canaan,  as  here  used,  does 
not  mean  any  particular  son  of  Ham.  It  is  evidently  used  at  a 
time  before  he  had  any  sons.  From  the  manner  of  the  relation 
it  seems  probable  the  planting  of  the  vineyard  was  among  the  first 
things  Noah  did  after  the  flood.  Two  or  three  years  was  all  the 
time  required  for  the  consummation  of  this  event.  In  case  Ham 
had  married  a  female  of  the  race  of  Cain,  he  had  also  identified 
himself  with  that  race,  and  might  well  be  called  by  his  father, 
especially  at  a  moment  of  displeasure,  by  a  term  emphatically 
showing,  yea  announcing  prophetically,  his  degradation  through  all 
future  time, — the  degradation  to  which  that  connection  had  re 
duced  him. 


446  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

The  ill-manners  of  Ham  towards  his  father  were  not  the  great 
cause  of  the  curse.  The  cause  must  have  previously  existed 
The  ill-manners  only  influence  the  time  of  its  announcement.  Even 
had  it  never  been  announced,  the  consequences  would  have  been  the 
same.  The  sentence  of  the  law  is  only  declaratory  of  the  relation 
in  which  one  has  placed  himself.  The  cause  of  the  curse  or  degra 
dation  here  pronounced  must  have  been  something  adequate,  to 
have  produced  it.  Tne  ill-manners  could  have  no  so  great  effect. 
And  let  us  inquire,  where  are  we  to  find  an  adequate  cause  for  the 
immediate  degradation  of  an  unborn  race,  unless  we  find  it  in  in 
termarriage.  His  intermarriage,  then,  could  have  been  with  no 
other  than  the  race  of  Cain  ?  When  Noah  spoke  to  Ham,  and 
said,  "Cursed  be  Canaan,"  he  had  no  reference  to  any  particular 
descendant  of  Ham,  but  included  them  all,  as  the  race  of  Cain,  and, 
in  reproof  and  disparagement  to  his  son,  reproaching  the  con 
nection.  Suppose,  even  at  this  day,  a  descendant  of  Japheth 
should  choose  to  amalgamate  with  the  Negro,  could  not  his  father 
readily  foretell  the  future  destiny  of  the  offspring, — their  standing 
among  the  rest  of  his  family  ?  The  term  Canaan,  thus  spoken 
and  applied  to  Ham,  was  significant  of  the  character  his  conduct 
had  created,  by  identifying  himself  with  the  race  of  Cain.  It  was 
a  new  name,  deeply  and  degradingly  distinguishing  him  from  the 
rest  of  his  father's  family.  Jacob  was  called  Israel,  after  having 
wrestled  with  God ;  but  an  honourable  cognomen  would  be  made 
known  and  used,  whereas  one  of  reverse  character  might  or  might 
not. 

It  cannot  be  expected,  at  this  late  day,  to  account  for  the 
anomalies  of  the  ancient  Hebrew.  Terms  applied  as  proper 
names,  whether  significant  or  not,  are  in  all  languages,  and  in  all 
ages,  subject  sometimes  to  strange  and  even  oblique  alterations. 
Thus,  in  the  family  of  Benjamin,  "  Ard,"  of  Genesis  and  Numbers, 
is  changed  into  Addar  in  Chronicles ;  and  thus  Colon  of  Genoa 
was  converted  into  Columbus  in  the  western  continent. 

Thus,  Muppim  and  Huppim,  in  Genesis,  are  changed  into  Shup- 
ham  and  Hupham  in  Numbers,  and  into  Shephupham  and  Huram 
in  Chronicles.  See  G-en.  xlvi.  21,  Num.  xxvi.  39,  and  1  Chron. 
viii.  5.  The  Kenites,  Kennizites,  and  Canaanites  of  G-en.  xv.  19 ; 
the  Kenaz,  xxxvi.  11  and  42 ;  the  Kenite  and  Kenites  of  Num. 
xxiv.  21;  the  Kenites  of  1  Sam.  xxvii.  10,  xv.  5,  6;  Judges 
iv.  11-17 ;  and  the  city  called  "Cain"  ]^jl  ha  Kain,  Josh.  xv.  57, 
also  Kinah,  H^p,  idem  22,— are  all  legitimately  derived  and  de- 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  447 

scended  from  the  name  given  to  the  first-born  of  mankind.  Doubt 
less  a  critical  search  would  find  many  more;  but  in  all  these 
instances  the  derivative  is  used  for  and  by  the  descendants  of 
Ham.  But  no  instance  is  found  where  any  such  derivative  is  in 
use  by  the  unmixed  posterity  of  Shem  or  Japheth.  We  surely 
need  not  point  in  the  direction  of  the  cause  of  these  facts. 

In  Judges  iv.  11,  we  have,  "Now,  Heber  the  Kenite,  (typi! 
ha  Keni,}  which  was  of  the  children  of  Hobab,  (the  Jethro  of  Gene 
sis,)  the  father-in-law  of  Moses."  We  shall  hereafter  have  occasion  to 
show  that  the  father-in-law  of  Moses  was  a  descendant  of  Misraim, 
the  second  son  of  Ham ;  that  he  dwelt  in  the  mountains  of  Midian, 
and,  when  spoken  of  in  regard  to  his  country,  was  called  a  Mi- 
dianite ;  but  his  daughter,  when  spoken  of  in  regard  to  her  colour, 
was  called  an  Ethiopian ;  but  now,  when  he  is  spoken  of  in  regard 
to  his  race,  he  is  called  a  Cainite,  Kenite. 

In  Josh.  xv.  17,  we  have  a  derivative  in  common  origin  of  the 
foregoing,  in  "Kenaz,"  the  brother  of  Caleb ;  but  upon  examining 
1  Qhron.  ii.,  we  shall  find  a  sufficient  reason  in  the  blood  of  that 
family ;  and  in  all  instances  where  such  derivative  is  found,  we 
shall  find  the  same  cause  to  warrant  its  use. 


LESSON  VII. 

SUCH  evidence  as  there  may  be  that  Ham  did  take  to  wife  some 
particular  female  of  the  race  of  Cain,  will  also  be  the  most  posi 
tive  evidence  that  their  descendants  are  one  and  the  same. 

Let  it  be  noticed  that,  immediately  preceding  the  account  of  the 
flood,  and  the  causes  which  led  to  that  judgment  upon  the  earth, 
we  are  presented  with  the  genealogical  tables  of  the  families  of 
Cain  and  Seth,  down  to  that  period ;  and  that  these  tables  termi 
nate  with  Ham,  in  that  of  Seth,  and  in  the  female  Naamah,  the 
daughter  of  Lamech,  in  the  genealogy  of  Cain.  Ham  and  Naamah 
are  thus  placed  upon  a  parallel,  so  far  as  it  regards  these  tables. 

It  surely  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  the  cause  why,  in  the  table 
of  Seth,  the  genealogical  line  ending  in  the  family  of  Noah  was 
selected ;  but,  if  the  entire  race  of  Cain  were  to  be  destroyed  by 
the  flood,  why  was  the  particular  line  ending  in  Naamah  chosen  ? 


44g  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

Why  was  any  such  table  of  his  race  required  ?  Beside  Eve,  the 
two  wives  of  Lamech  and  this  Naamah  are  the  only  females  whose 
names  are  given  before  the  flood  ?  If  the  entire  race  of  Cain  was 
destroyed,  how  was  the  name  of  Naamah  of  more  importance  for 
us  to  know  than  that  of  thousands  of  the  same  race  ?  Why  has 
God  sent  these  facts  down  to  us  ?  Has  he  ever  revealed  to  us 
any  thing  unnecessary  for  us  to  know  ?  Is  it  consistent  with  his 
character  to  do  so  ?  There  have  been,  through  all  time  since  the 
deluge,  traditions  and  legends  among  the  Arabians,  and  many 
other  Asiatic  tribes,  that  this  Naamah  and  her  posterity  continued 
upon  the  earth  subsequent  to  that  period.  We  give  in  substance 
a  tale  of  traditionary  lore  among  the  Eastern  nations,  found  in 
the  Book  Zohar,  and  referred  to  by  Sale,  page  87.  They  believe 
that  at  an  extremely  ancient  time,  there  was  an  inferior  race  of 
beings,  whom  they  call  "jin,"  (query,  a  cognate  of  PU'  yana  or 
jana,  to  cast  down,  destroyed,  used  in  a  bad  sense,  to  cast  away ;) 
that  this  race  was  created  from,  by,  or  someway  connected  with 
fire,  heat,  &c.,  either  in  their  original  state  or  in  an  acquired  con 
dition  ;  that  they  eat,  drink,  propagate,  and  die,  and  are  subjects 
of  salvation  or  reprobation,  like  men;  that  they  inhabited  the 
world  for  ages  before  Adam  was  created  ;  that  they  fell  at  length 
into  general  corruption;  that,  therefore,  Eblis  (one  of  the  names 
of  the  devil)  drove  them  into  a  remote  part  of  the  earth,  and  con 
fined  them  there ;  but,  however,  some  of  their  race  remained ;  and 
that  Tahmunah,  (the  Noah  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,)  one  of  the 
ancient  kings  of  Persia,  drove  them  into  the  mountains  of  Kdf. 

Another  version  of  the  same  legend  is,  that  this  race  of  beings 
was  begotten  by  Aza  with  Naamah,  the  daughter  of  Lamech. 
(Let  us  here  note,  NtK  aza  is  a  Chaldaic  word,  meaning  heat,  to 
grow  hot,  &c.,  and  as  such  is  used  in  Dan.  iii.  22,— therefore  a 
synonyme  with  Ham,  as  applied  to  the  son  of  Noah.)  But  some 
have  it  that  the  race  is  the  joint  offspring,  or  from  the  double 
paternity,  of  Aza  and  Azael.  (Let  us  also  notice,  that  this  mon 
strosity  of  paternity  is  reduced  to  a  single  personage  by  the  fact, 
that  the  Hebrew  suffix  el  merely  gives  quality,  even  by  repetition, 
as  thus,— Aza  the  mighty  Aza.)  But  this  version  of  the  legend  de 
nominates  the  race  "  Shedim,"  the  plural  of  shed,  a  word  some 
times  used  to  express  idols,  but  more  often  used  to  mean  desola 
tion,  destruction,  &c. ;  and  because  the  nursing  breast  is  often 
exhausted,  or  from  the  notion  that  such  exhaustion  is  akin  to  i 
thing  destroyed,  this  word  is  applied  to  the  female  breast ;  and 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  449 

hence  a  posterity  strongly  marked  by  natural  peculiarities  would 
very  readily  take  some  name  expressive  of  such  fact.  Even  at 
this  day,  in  reference  to  such  peculiarities,  we  say,  they  to^k  it 
from  the  "breast." 

We  deem  it  unnecessary  to  enter  into  a  critical  history  of  the 
word  shed  or  shedim,  as  used  by  the  Arabians,  the  "  sed"  of  the 
Hebrews  ;  but  we  may  be  permitted  to  remark  that,  from  its  con 
veying  the  idea  of  destruction,  desolation,  so  strongly,  the  Hebrews 
applied  it  also  to  mean  a  "field,"  or  country,  in  a  destroyed  or  de 
solate  or  uncultivated  condition ;  and  it  is  thus  used  in  many  places. 
See  Grenesis  iii.  1. ;  and  is  thus  the  word  we  call  Sodom.  It  al 
ways  carries  with  it  the  idea  opposite  to  improvement;  and, 
governed  by  the  same  leading  idea,  writers  have  applied  it,  per 
haps  rather  figuratively,  to  any  living  existence  found  wandering 
over  waste  and  solitary  districts.  We  might  pursue  the  subject  of 
this  tradition,  and  from  the  analogy  of  language,  as  well  as  from 
ancient  associations,  at  least  find  some  evidence  that  Zahmurah 
was  no  other  than  Noah  ;  that  the  affix  "  el"  with  Aza  arose  from 
the  acknowledged  superiority  of  the  race  of  Seth  to  that  of  Cain, 
in  consequence  of  which  they  were  sometimes  described  as  "the 
sons  of  God,"  Cren.  vi.  4 ;  and  that  the  tradition  points  to  the  race 
of  Ham,  and  their  humble  condition  in  the  world. 

Traces  of  this  legend  will  not  only  be  found  as  above,  but  also 
in  Gemara,  in  Hagiga,  and  Igrat  Baale  Hayyin,  c.  15.  \ 

If  it  be  a  fact  that  the  Negro  race  are  the  descendants  of  Ham 
and  Naamah,  the  daughter  of  Lamech,  of  the  race  of  Cain,  it  might 
be  thought  there  would  still  be  existing  some  traditions  of  such  an 
extraordinary  fact.  As  such  we  present  the  legend  :  not  that  we 
attach  to  it  any  undue  importance,  and  especially  not  to  be  re 
ceived  as  evidence  at  all,  in  contradiction  of  one  word  found  in  the 
holy  books.  But  if  a  legend  of  ancient  time  shall  be  found,  when 
sifted  from  the  ignorance  of  fable  or  the  fraud  of  design,  to  coin 
cide  with  facts  as  related  in  the  holy  books,  we  may  be  permitted 
to  consider  the  same  as  a  circumstance  not  altogether  unworthy  of 
consideration. 

But,  we  repeat,  unless  Naamah  was  to  survive  the  destruction 
of  the  deluge,  why  was  her  name,  why  was  her  genealogy  recorded 
and  sent  down  to  future  time  ? 

We  think  it  certain  that  if  she  did  survive  the  flood,  she  must  have 
done  so  as  the  wife  of  one  of  Noah's  sons.  Now,  as  it  is  evident 

that  the  mtennixture  of  the  two  races  was  regarded  by  Jehovah 

29 


450  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


:is  a  sin,  it  is  not  probable  that  either  Shem  or  Japheth  took  her 
to  wife,  since  they  were  both  most  honourably  distinguished  by  a 
public  blessing  immediately  after  the  flood. 

But  again :  Noah  had  been  preaching  the  then  impending  ruin 
near  a  hundred  years.  Lamech  might  well  have  had  some  glimpses 
of  the  subdiluvian  world,  and  certainly  saw  the  consequential  ruin 
to  young  Ham,  of  the  holy  family  of  Noah,  from  such  a  connection 
with  his  daughter,  Naamah.  It  could  not  otherwise  than  operate 
as  a  moral  death  to  all  the  high  hopes  of  him  and  his  posterity. 
In  case  such  connection  was  formed,  and  Lamech  was  forward  in 
aiding  or  influencing  it,  then  well  might  his  troubled  soul  exclaim 
to  his  two  wives  as  related. 

But  in  case  Ham  did  take  to  wife  this  daughter  of  Lamech,  we 
might  expect  her  name  also  to  be  held  in  remembrance  by  her 
posterity,  as  we  have  seen  to  some  extent  was  that  of  Cain ;  and 
if  we  find  such  fact  to  exist  in  regard  to  her,  it  will  be  to  our  mind 
strong  additional  proof,  that  the  descendants  of  Ham  were  in 
common  the  descendants  of  Cain.  We  notice  here  the  fact,  which 
we  may  hereafter  deem  necessary  to  prove,  that,  of  the  children  of 
Flam,  Cush  originally  settled  in  Arabia  and  the  southwestern  parts 
of  Asia  generally,  Misraim  in  Egypt,  Phut  in  the  northern  parts  of 
Africa  and  southward  indefinitely,  and  Canaan  in  Palestine. 

When  this  latter  country  came  to  be  conquered  by  Joshua,  he 
found  a  city  by  the  name  of  "Naamah,"  situated  in  that  portion 
which  was  given  to  the  tribe  of  Judah.  See  Josh.  xv.  41.  But 
we  shall  directly  see  that  there  must  have  also  been  another  city 
by  the  name  of  "  Naamah,"  situated  probably  in  the  region  origin 
ally  occupied  by  Cush.  The  book  of  Job  is  supposed  to  have  been 
written  as  early  as  the  days  of  Abraham.  One  of  the  men  named 
in  it  is  Zophar  the  "Naamathite."  See  Job  ii.  11;  also  xi.  1. ; 
also  xlii.  9.  He  was  an  inhabitant  of  "Naamah,"  at  a  much  more 
ancient  period  than  the  time  of  Joshua.  Job  is  represented  as  of 
the  land  of  "  Uz,"  far  distant  from  the  land  of  Canaan,  in  the 
eastern  parts  of  Arabia.  His  intimate  friends  and  acquaintances 
cannot  be  expected  to  have  been  of  so  distant  a  country  as  was  the 
land  of  Judea.  The  evidence  is  then  that  there  must  have  been  a 
city  in  the  land  of  Cush  by  the  same  name.  But  in  Gf-en.  x.  7, 
one  of  the  sons  of  Cush  is  called  Raamah :  we  think  those  who 
will  examine  the  subject  will  find  this  term  a  mere  alteration  or 
adulteration  of  Naamdh,  as  there  are  many  others,  a  tedious  expla 
nation  of  which  might  not  be  excused  at  our  hand.  Suffice  it  then 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  451 

to  say  that  among  the  Cushites  at  a  very  early  period  one  whole 
tribe  were  called  "  Naamathites"  dictinct  from  the  Naamathites  that 
lived  in  the  city  of  Naamah  conquered  by  Joshua.  Another  varia 
tion  of  this  word  will  be  found  in  the  word  "  ffamathites,"  Gen.  xvi. 
18.  This  word  is  used,  differently  varied,  in  Num.  xiii.  21,  xxvi. 
40 ;  Judges  iii.  3 ;  1  Kings  x.  65,  xiv.  21-31 ;  2  Kings  v.  1-27  ; 
2  Sam.  viii.  9 ;  1  Chron.  viii.  4,  7  ;  2  Chron.  viii.  3,  xii.  13  ;  Isa. 
x.  9,  also  xi.  11,  also  xvii.  10;  Ezek.  xlvii.  16,  20,  also  xlviii.  1, 
and  perhaps  many  other  places;  and  in  all  cases  in  reference  to  in 
dividuals,  the  people  and  country  of  the  Canaanites,  and  no  doubt 
in  memory  of  their  great  female  progenitor,  Naamah,  the  daughter 
of  Lamech,  of  the  race  of  Cain. 


LESSON  VIII. 

BEFORE  we  close  this  branch  of  our  inquiry,  let  us  examine  into 
the  significancy  and  composition  of  the  name  "Naamah,"  as  ap 
plied  to  the  daughter  of  Lamech :  and  we  take  occasion  here  to 
say  how  deeply  we  are  indebted  to  the  labours  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Lee,  the  regius  professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  University  of  Cam 
bridge,  England,  and  whom  we  have  no  question  in  believing  to 
be  among  the  most  penetrating  oriental  scholars  of  the  age.  By 
an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  Asiatic  languages,  he  discovered  that 
in  many  instances  where,  in  a  cognate  case,  the  Heemanti  would 
be  used  in  Hebrew,  in  them  the  word  was  supplied  with  a  particle, 
changing  or  influencing  the  sense.  Upon  full  research,  he  de 
termined  that  the  Heemanti,  in  Hebrew,  were  the  fragments  of 
ancient  or  obsolete  particles,  still  influencing  the  significance  as 
would  have  done  the  particles  themselves.  Let  us  take  an  ex 
ample  in  our  own  language :  able  implies  fulness  of  power ;  add  to 
it  the  prefix  un,  and  you  reverse  the  sense  wholly.  Yet  we  do 
not  perceive,  without  reflection,  that  the  prefix  really  is  a  con 
traction  of  something  similar  to  "  I  am  not,"  &c. 

With  this  door  open  to  a  constitutional  knowledge  of  the  lan 
guage,  let  us  take  the  word  DJ?  am.  The  terminating  aspirate  of 
the  word  Naamah  will  be  readily  formed  from  this  by  the  usual 
feminine,  as  a  fragment  of  the  DID  buth,  later  fin  bath.  And  for 


^52  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

the  prefix  nun,  we  beg  leave  to  quote  from  Lee's  Lectures,  pages 
123  and  124: 

"We  come  now  to  propose  a  conjecture  on  the  prefix  nun,  and 
on  the  modification  of  sense  which  primitive  words  undergo  in  con 
sequence  of  its  influence.  If  then  we  take  this  (3)  as  the  defective 
form  of  some  primitive  word,  appearing  sometimes  in  the  form  of 
J,1,  at  other  times  as  $  only,  we  may  suppose  it  to  have  been  de 
rived  from  the  (Arabic)  root,  which,  had  it  been  preserved  in 
Hebrew,  might  have  been  written  fl^n  Jianah.  H.3X  anah.  or  NJK 

IT   T  T     T  T    T 

ana.  The  senses  attributed  to  it  by  Castell  (in  his  Arabic 
Lexicon)  are,  among  others,  *  ad  extremum  perfectionis  terminum 
pervenit — assecutus  fuit,  seu  percepit — retinuit,  detinuit,  coercuit, 
— lenitate,  modestia  et  patientia  usus  fuit,'  &c.  Supposing  this 
word,  or  some  defective  form  of  it,  to  be  construed  with  any  other, 
the  sense  of  both  taken  together  would,  in  general,  give  the  force 
of  the  forms  thus  compounded.  And  as  this  form  of  compound  is 
often  in  the  leading  word  of  one  of  the  conjugations,  it  becomes 
the  more  important  to  ascertain  its  properties.  Primitive  words 
receiving  this  particle  will  have  a  sort  of  passive  sense,  or  will  ex 
hibit  subjection  to  the  action  implied  by  the  primitive  accidentally, 
but  not  habitually.  Words  receiving  this  augment,  subjecting 
them  to  the  action  implied  by  the  primitive  word,  may,  when  the 
context  requires  it,  also  be  construed  as  having  a  reciprocal  sense, 
or  as  implying  possibility,"  &c. 

Now  then,  let  us  present  examples  of  the  influence  of  this  par 
ticular  Heemanti : — ~}^&  sakur,  a  hireling,  one  whose  habit  is  to  be 
hired,  one  whose  occupation  is  that  of  being  hired  by  others. 
Add  J  nun,  and  we  have  -113  £O  niskkaru,  as  in  1  Sam.  ii.  5,  and 
translated  thus  :  "  They  that  were  full  have  hired  out  themselves 
for  bread."  The  idea  in  Hebrew  is :  They  who  were  habitually 
full,  from  the  force  of  the  circumstances  influencing  the  case,  have 
been  compelled  to  hire  themselves  to  others  for  bread.  The  sakur 
is  a  hireling  from  habit,  from  constitution,  from  custom,  &c.,  and 
which  idea  enters  into  the  meaning  of  the  word.  But  the  prefix  of 
the  proposed  Heemanti  at  once  destroys  all  idea  of  habit,  fitness, 
constitution,  or  custom  ;  but  yet  the  individual  is  a  "  hireling,"  but 
only  as  the  force  of  circumstances  influencing  the  case  compelled 
him  to  be  so.  Thus  this  Heemanti  gives  a  reflective  quality,  re 
flecting  back  upon  the  agent  or  actor,  as  thus:  IDL^  shamar, 
lie  guards,  "JDCJ^  nishmar,  he  guards  himself;  that  is,  under  the 
force  of  circumstances  affecting  the  case,  he  was  compelled  to 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  453 


guard  himself.  Thus  *")03  chemar  is  sometimes  used  to  express 
the  idea  black,  as  a  constant,  habitual  quality.  In  Lam.  v.  10,  we 
find  it  with  this  Heemanti,  thus,  1*1 6?^  niche?naru,  "  our  skin  was 
black ;"  not  that  their  skin  was  naturally  and  habitually  black,  but 
made  so  by  the  facts  of  the  case :  and  this  same  word,  with  this 
Heemanti,  is  used  in  G-en.  xliii.  30,  and  translated,  by  attempting  to 
express  a  Hebrew  cognate  idea,  into  "yearn"  The  idea  is,  his 
bowels  did  not  habitually  "yearn,"  but  the  action  was  forced  upon 
him  by  the  facts  of  the  case  ;  and  the  same  again  in  1  Kings  iii.  26. 
In  Hosea  xi.  8,  we  find  it  again  translated  "  my  repentings  are 
kindled:"  because  his  people  were  bent  on  backsliding,  which 
would  cause  the  Assyrian  to  be  their  king,  and  war  to  be  in  their 
cities  continually,  and  their  bad  counsels  themselves  to  be  de 
stroyed,  his  repentings  were  forced  to  be  "kindled."  See  the 


This  particle  then  prefixed  to  the  word  D^  am,  with  its  femi 
nine  termination,  makes  the  word  HO^  Naamah,  with  the  mean 
ing,  under  the  condition  of  things,  she  was  to  become  a  people  dis 
tinct  to  herself  ;  not  that  she  would  be  a  people  absolutely,  by  the 
habitual  action  of  constituent  ability,  but  she  would  be  a  people 
distinct  to  herself,  only  as  the  peculiar  influencing  causes  made  her 
so,  —  showing  also  that  these  causes  gave  distinction  and  cha 
racter  to  her  posterity.  Thus  her  very  name  shadowed  forth  the 
condition  of  her  race.  A  Frenchman  goes  to  England,  or  vice 
versa  :  a  generation  passes  and  nationality  is  lost.  Not  so  with 
the  Ethiopian.  For  "  though  thou  wash  thee  with  nitre  and  take 
thee  much  soap,  yet  thine  iniquity  is  marked  before  me,  saith  the 
Lord  God."  Jer.ii.22. 

A  form  of  the  word  "Naamah"  is  used  in  character  of  a  mas 
culine  plural,  in  Isa.  xvii.  10,  and  translated  "  pleasant,"  as  if  from 
DI73  nam.  Forced  to  differ  from  this  translation,  we  beg  leave  to 
place  the  whole  passage  before  the  scholars  of  the  day  : 


"U 

It  is  translated  thus  :  "  Because  thou  hast  forgotten  the  God 
of  thy  salvation,  and  hast  not  been  mindful  of  the  rock  of  thy 
strength,  therefore  shalt  thou  plant  pleasant  plants  and  shalt  set 
it  with  strange  slips." 

We  beg  to  inquire  whether  there  is  not  a  material  defect  in  the 
latter  clause  of  this  translation  ?  The  verb  "  to  plant,"  in  Hebrew, 


454  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 

governs  two  accusatives,  to  wit,  the  plantation  and  the  thing 
planted.  In  English,  we  are  compelled  to  render  one  of  the  names 
as  governed  by  a  preposition.  Thus,  he  planted  a  field  with  corn, 
or  he  planted  corn  in  a  field.  The  word  rnb?  zemorath,  is  often 
translated  a  song,  as  "  The  Lord  Jehovah  is  my  strength  and  song." 
See  Ps.  cxviii.  14  and  Isa.  xii.  2.  But  the  idea  is  more  compre 
hensive  than  is  our  idea  expressed  by  the  term  "song."  It  in 
cludes  the  result  of  a  course  of  conduct.  Thus  the  result  of  a 
devout  worship  of  God  is  that  Jehovah  becomes  the  "  Zemorath" 
of  the  worshipper ;  and  we  doubt  not  our  term  result,  although 
imperfect,  will  give  a  better  view  of  the  prophet's  idea  in  this 
place  than  the  song.  In  this  sense  this  word  is  used  in  Cren.  xliii. 

11,  and  translated  "fruits:"  thus,  "take  of  the  best  fruits  of  the 
land,"  that  is,  the  best  results  of  our  cultivation.     The  prophet 
informs  his  people  that  they  intermix  and  amalgamate  with  the 
Naamathites  because  they  have  forgot  God,  and  that  the  result  is 
the  two  last  words  in  the  passage,  to  wit,  the  "  zar"  and  "tizera- 
ennu"  that  is,  a  "stranger."  See  Exod.  xxx.  33  ;  Levit.  xxii.  10, 

12,  13,  where  "zar"  is  translated  "stranger;"  also,  Job  xix.  15, 
17 ;  also,  Prov.  v.  10,  17,  and  20 ;  and  many  other  places,  surely 
enough  to  determine  its  meaning  here.     The  original  sense  of  the 
last  word  in  the  passage  was  to  sow  seed,  hence  to  scatter  and  de 
stroy.     The  result  of  such  amalgamation  then  is,  their  posterity 
will  be  a  deteriorated  race,  and  the  pure  Hebrew  stock  sown  to  the 
winds,  scattered,  wasted  away  and  destroyed. 

In  these  highly  excited  and  poetic  effusions  of  the  prophet,  we 
are  to  notice  the  chain  of  thought  and  mode  of  expression  by  which 
he  reaches  the  object  in  view.  This  chapter  commences  with  the 
information  that  Damascus  shall  cease  to  be  a  city  ;  that  Aroer 
shall  be  forsaken,  and  Ephraim  be  without  a  fortress  to  protect 
her ;  and  finally  that  Jacob  shall  be  made  thin,  like  a  few  scatter 
ing  grapes  found  by  the  gleaner,  or  a  few  berries  of  the  olive  left 
in  the  top  of  the  bough,  and  the  house  of  Jacob  become  desolate. 
In  the  passage  under  consideration  the  causes  of  this  condition  of 
Jacob  are  announced.  If  our  view  of  the  word  "Naamah"  be 
correct,  in  the  masculine  plural,  as  here  used,  it  will  be  quite  analo 
gous  to  Ethiopians.  But  we  have  no  one  word  of  its  meaning ; 
perhaps  the  idea  will  be  more  correctly  expressed  by  Naamathites. 
Evidently  the  idea  intended  to  be  conveyed  by  the  prophet  by  t 
word  D'ioJ  Naamanim,  is,  a  people  whose  cultivation  would  be 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVEKV.  45^ 

abortive  as  to  them  and  injurious  to  the  cultivator;  that  is,  a 
people  with  whom  intermarriage  will  produce  nothing  but  injury 
and  destruction  to  the  house  of  Jacob. 

By  the  use  of  some  such  paraphrasis  the  idea  of  the  prophet 
will  be  brought  to  mind :  "  Because  thou  hast  forgotten  the  God 
of  thy  salvation,  and  hast  not  been  mindful  of  the  rock  of  thy 
strength,  therefore  shalt  thou  (or  therefore  dost  thou)  plant  Naa- 
mathites,"  (that  is,  amalgamate  with  the  descendants  of  Ham  and 
Naamah,)  "  and  the  fruits  of  the  land  shall  be  a  stranger"  (that  is, 
their  adulterated  posterity  will  be  heathen)  "  scattering  thee  away ;" 
that  is,  wasting  away  not  only  the  purity  of  the  Hebrew  blood, 
but  their  worship  also. 

Repeat:  "Because  thou  hast  forgotten  the  God  of  thy  salva 
tion,  and  hast  not  been  mindful  of  the  rock  of  thy  strength." 
Therefore  dost  thou  cohabit  with  the  heathen,  and  thy  posterity, 
0  Jacob,  shall  be  an  enemy,  and  thou  scattered  away  and  destroy 
ed  !  Such  is  the  announcement  of  the  prophet. 

One  of  the  most  bitter  specimens  of  irony  contained  in  the 
Scriptures  is  the  answer  of  Job  to  the  Naamathite :  "No  doubt 
but  ye  are  the  people,  and  wisdom  shall  die  with  you."  The  pas 
sage  needs  no  comment. 

The  view  we  take  of  the  word  "  Naamanim"  as  used  by  Isaiah, 
we  think  warranted  by  the  succeeding  sentence,  which  we  ask  the 
scholar  to  notice. 

"  For  a  day  thou  shalt  make  thy  plant  to  grow,  for  a  morning 
thou  shalt  make  thy  seed  to  flourish,  but  the  harvest  shall  be  a 
heap"  (a  burden  unbearable)  "in  the  days  of  grief  and  desperate 
sorrow."  And  such  has  ever  been  the  lot  of  the  white  parent  who 
has  amalgamated  with  the  negro ;  as  to  posterity,  it  is  ruin. 

The  prophet  borrowed  his  figure  from  agriculture.  His  inten 
tion  was  to  present  to  the  mind  the  abortiveness  of  such  a  course 
of  sin,  by  presenting  a  bold  and  distinct  view  of  the  mental  and 
moral  character  of  the  descendants  of  Naamah ;  and  is  on  a  par 
with — "Are  ye  not  as  the  children  of  the  Ethiopians  unto  me,  0 
children  of  Israel?  saith  the  Lord."  Amos  ix.  7. 


£66  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


LESSON  IX. 

BY  referring  to  the  instances  where  we  allege  are  to  be  found 
variations  of  the  names  Cain  and  Naamoih,  it  will  be  at  once 
noticed  that  some  of  them  are  quite  remarkable.  Shall  we  be 
excused  for  a  few  remarks  in  explanation,  by  way  of  example,  of 
other  lingual  changes  ?  Queen  Elizabeth  lived  but  yesterday ; 
and  her  history  has  not  advanced  through  a  very  great  variety  of 
languages,  yet  we  find,  in  commemoration  of  her,  one  place  named 
Elizabeth,  Elizabeth  City,  Elizabethtown,  Elizabethville,  Elizabeth- 
burg,  and  another,  even  Betsey's  Wash-tub,  and  because  she  was 
never  married,  one  is  called  Virgin  Queen,  and  another  Virginia. 

Now,  we  all  know  that  at  a  very  ancient  period,  the  worship  of 
the  sun  and  of  fire  was  introduced  into  the  British  Isles.  Is  there 
nothing  left  at  this  day  in  commemoration  of  that  fact  ?  The  sun 
became  an  object  of  great  and  absorbing  consideration.  The 
ancient  Celtic  word  grian  meant  the  sun ;  from  the  application  of 
this  word  and  its  variations,  we  have  a  proof,  not  only  of  how  words 
are  made  to  change,  but  also  of  the  fact  that  the  people  of  that 
country  were  once  addicted  to  the  worship  of  the  sun  or  fire. 
Hence  Apollo,  who  was  the  sun  personified,  was  called  Grynaeus. 
At  once  we  find  a  singular  change  in  the  name  of  the  Druidical 
idol  Orom-Oruach,  often  called  Cean  Gf-roith,  the  head  of  the  sun. 
This  was  the  image  or  idol  god  to  whom  the  ancient  inhabitants 
of  Ireland  offered  infants  and  young  children  a  sacrifice.  It  was 
in  fact  the  same  as  the  Moloch  of  the  ancient  Hamitic  occupants 
of  Palestine,  and  was  so  firmly  established  in  the  superstitions  of 
the  world,  that  whatever  race  had  the  ascendency  in  Ireland,  it 
continued  to  be  thus  worshipped,  giving  the  name  of  the  "  Plains 
of  slaughter"  to  the  place  of  its  location,  until  St.  Patrick  had  the 
success  to  destroy  the  image  and  its  worship ;  and  hence  also  the 
names  Knoc-greine  and  Tuam-greine,  hills  where  the  sun  was  wor 
shipped,  and  other  places  in  Ireland,  even  now  keep  in  memory 
that  worship:  Qairn-G-rainey,  the  sun's  heap,  Granniss'  bed,  cor 
rupted  from  Grrian-Beacht,  the  sun's  circle.  A  point  of  land  near 
"Wexford  is  called  G-renor,  the  sun's  fire,  and  the  town  of  Ghranaid, 
because  the  sun  was  worshipped  there.  And  we  may  notice  a  still 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  457 

greater  variation  in  Carig-Croith,  the  rock  of  the  sun — and  even 
our  present  word  grange,  from  the  almost  obsolete  idea,  a  place 
enclosed,  separate  and  distinct,  but  open  to  the  sun,  now  used  as  a 
synonyme  of  farm. 

Let  us  take  our  word  fire,  and  we  shall  perceive  remarkable 
changes  through  all  the  languages  from  the  Chaldaic  down.  Gren. 
xi.  28,  "  Ur"  is  translated  from  "MN  which  means  fire.  Abraham 
was  a  native  of  Chaldea,  and  from  a  place  where  they  worshipped 
fire,  or  the  sun.  It  was  used  to  mean  the  sun,  Job  xxxviii.  12 ; 
also,  in  the  plural,  Isa.  xxiv.  15  :  "  Wherefore  glorify  ye  the  Lord 
in  the  fires?"  It  is  here  DHX  urim.  Because  fire  emitted  light, 
it  became  used  to  mean  light.  The  words  urim  and  tJmmmim  meant 
lights  or  fires,  and  truth:  among  the  fire-worshippers  the  same 
term  meant  fire  and  sun.  The  Copts  called  their  kings  suns. 
Hence  from  this  term  they  took  the  word  ouro,  to  mean  the  idea 
of  royalty ;  their  article  pi,  made  piouro,  the  sun  or  the  king, 
which  being  carried  back  to  the  Hebrews,  they  made  it  Pharaoh  ; 
but  the  sun  was  regarded  as  a  god,  and  hence  the  Egyptian  kings 
came  to  be  called  gods;  but  the  Chaldaic  and  Hebrew  11N,  when 
applied  to  fire  or  the  sun  by  the  Copts,  as  an  object  of  worship, 
was  distinguished  from  the  idea  of  royalty  by  the  term  ra  and  re, 
with  the  particle  pira  and  pire9  generally  written  phra  and  phre. 
Hence  the  Greek  nvp,  pur,  to  mean  fire,  and  hence  pyrites,  which 
means  a  fire-stone,  a  stone  well  burned,  or  a  stone  containing 
fire,  &c. 

And  hence  also  the  Hebrew  word  *N"1  rai,  a  mirror,  vision,  the 
god  of  vision,  and  by  figure  a  conspicuous  or  illustrious  person. 
But  according  to  Butman,  the  Sanscrit  root  Raja  is  the  original 
of  the  obsolete  Greek  word,  'Pa,  'Paia,  'Pa&v,  and  if  so,  possibly 
of  the  Chaldaic  word  under  view.  But  however  that  may  be,  it  is 
evident  that  the  Greek  radios  is  at  least  derived  through  the  channel 
indicated ;  and  we  now  use  the  term  ray  to  mean  an  emanation  from 
great  power.  Our  word  regent  is  also  from  the  same  source,  through 
the  Latin  rex,  and  may  be  found,  slightly  modified,  through 
all  the  European  dialects.  And  it  may  be  remarked  that,  cognate 
therewith,  we  have  the  Arabic  word  raiheh,  or  raygeh,  to  mean  fra- 
grancy  ;  the  poetic  minds  of  the  Arabians  uniformly  applying  this 
image  to  legitimate  rule  and  government. 

And  if  we  take  a  view  of  the  filiations  of  languages,  even  as 
they  are  now  found,  such  changes  cannot  be  deemed  unusual,  espe 
cially  if  we  take  into  consideration  the  inevitable  variation  words 


468  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

are  found  to  undergo  in  their  progress  through  different  countries 
and  ages  of  time ;  and  more  especially,  if  we  notice  the  precise 
manner  in  which  lingual  variations  are  found  to  operate. 

Changes  of  language  sometimes  take  place  upon  a  single  word 
apparently  by  caprice,  among  different  tribes  of  people, — some 
times  by  the  transposition  of  the  consonant  or  vowel  sound ;  by 
the  insertion  of  a  letter  or  letters  for  the  sake  of  euphony  ;  by  the 
contraction  or  abbreviation  of  letters  for  the  sake  of  despatch ;  by 
the  reduplication  of  a  letter  or  syllable  on  the  account  of  some  real 
or  fancied  importance  or  emphasis  attached  to  it ;  and  by  the  de 
letion  or  addition  of  a  letter  or  syllable  at  the  commencement  or 
end  of  a  word,  for  a  real  or  supposed  more  felicitous  enunciation 
of  certain  sounds  in  succession ;  and  hence  alterations,  slight  at 
first,  are  liable  to  become  quite  remarkable. 

Thus  /wopc£»7  in  Greek,  becomes  formce  in  Latin ;  regnum  be 
comes  reign;  coelum,  del;  ultra  jectum.  Utrecht;  and  "1DJ7  ebed, 
eved,  as  variously  pronounced,  meaning  a  slave,  becomes  obediens, 
obedienter,  obedio,  obedientia,  in  Latin,  and  obey,  obedient,  &c., 
in  English.  The  Celtic  ros  becomes'  horse,  and  the  English  grass 
becomes  garse.  Consonants  of  the  same  order  are  interchanged ; 
p  becomes  &,  and  b  v,  d  t,  g  k  and  sometimes  n, — <?>  becomes  ph 
or  /,  d  or  t  becomes  th,  and  g  or  c  gh.  It  is  therefore  impossible 
that  such  changes  should  not  have  taken  place,  and  therefore  they 
give  proof  of  the  genuineness  of  the  history  they  may  develop. 


LESSON  X. 

WE  have  heretofore  remarked  that  such  names  as  are  derived 
from  Cain  or  Naamah  are  never  found  in  the  holy  books,  except 
among  and  applied  to  the  descendants  of  Ham.  But  there  are 
some  few  instances  of  the  application  of  these  terms  in  the  family 
of  the  Benjamites.  It  is  therefore  our  design  now  to  prove,  so 
far  as  may  be,  that  such  instances,  in  the  family  of  Benjamin,  are 
wholly  confined  to  those  cases  where  the  Benjamite  was  a  mixed- 
blooded  person,  and  a  descendant  of  Ham,  as  well  as  of  the 
youngest  son  of  Jacob.  The  holy  books  do  give  evidence  that 
individuals  of  the  race  of  Shem  did  sometimes  commingle  with  the 
descendants  of  Ham. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  459 


From  the  proximity  of  the  Israelite  tribes  to  those  of  Ham ; 
from  their  co-habitation  of  Palestine  itself,  it  was  natural  to  expect 
among  the  low  and  vulgar,  as  well  as  among  those  whose  morals 
hung  loosely  about  them,  that  such  intermixture  should  take  place. 
"Now  Sheshan  had  no  sons,  but  daughters.  And  Sheshan  had 
a  servant,  ("O#  ebed,  a  slave,)  an  Egyptian,  (HVP  Mitsri,  a  Mis- 
raimite,  a  descendant  of  the  second  son  of  Ham,)  whose  name 
was  Jarha.  And  Sheshan  gave  his  daughter  to  Jarha  his  servant, 
(ID]/  ebed,  slave)  to  wife."  1  Ohron.  ii.  34,  35.  Proving  the  wis 
dom  and  truth  of  the  saying  of  Solomon,  "He  that  delicately 
bringeth  up  his  servant  ("1?J?  ebed,  slave)  from  a  child,  shall  have 
him  become  his  son  at  length."  Prov.  xxix.  21. 

"  Rehoboam  was  forty-one  years  old  when  he  began  to  reign ; 
and  he  reigned  seventeen  years  in  Jerusalem,  the  city  which  the 
Lord  did  choose  out  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel  to  put  his  name 
there :  and  his  mother's  name  was  Naamah,  an  Ammonitess. 
And  Rehoboam  slept  with  his  fathers,  and  was  buried  with  his 
fathers  in  the  city  of  David.  And  his  mother's  name  was  Naamah, 
an  Ammonitess."  1  Kings  xiv.  21,  31. 

"  For  Rehoboam  was  one-and-forty  years  old  when  he  began  to 
reign,  and  he  reigned  seventeen  years  in  Jerusalem,  the  city  which 
the  Lord  had  chosen  out  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel,  to  put  his  name 
there,  and  his  mother's  name  was  Naamah,  an  Ammonitess."  2 
Chron.  xii.  13. 

"  But  King  Solomon  loved  many  strange  women,  together  with 
the  daughter  of  Pharaoh  ;  women  of  the  Moabites,  Ammonites, 
Edomites,  Zidonians,  and  Hittites ;  of  the  nations  concerning 
which  the  Lord  said  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  Ye  shall  not  go 
in  to  them,  neither  shall  they  come  in  unto  you."  1  Kings  xi.  1,  2. 

By  thus  personally  amalgamating  with  the  various  nations  over 
whom  he  ruled,  Solomon,  no  doubt,  expected  more  firmly  to  esta 
blish  his  throne.  This  led  to  the  selection  of  the  son  of  this  woman 
for  his  successor. 

A  vast  majority  of  the  tribes  over  whom  his  reign  extended 
were  the  descendants  of  Ham. 

But  this  very  act,  which  he  thought  to  be  political  wisdom,  al 
though  contrary  to  the  laws  of  God,  brought  ruin  to  the  perma 
nency  of  his  dynasty.  The  great  majority  of  his  Jewish  subjects, 
hunting  up,  as  was  natural,  plausible  excuses,  rejected  with  scorn 
the  contamination  of  the  royal  house. 

Ami  we  see  such  manifestation  of  Divine  providence  even  at  the 


460  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

present  day :  even  among  ourselves,  men  whose  talents  and  pa 
triotism  might  authorize  them  to  look  to  any  station,  are  forced 
back  by  public  sentiment,  degraded  by  a  notorious  amalgamation 
with  the  descendants  of  Ham. 

We  shall  hereafter  see  some  proof  that  this  "  Naamah,"  the 
mother  of  Rehoboam,  was  the  individual  whose  praises  are  cele 
brated  in  the  book  of  Canticles :  at  any  rate,  she  was  an  Ammo- 
nitess,  a  descendant  of  Ham,  and  the  prophet  Hanani  includes  the 
Ammonites  among  those  whom  he  calls  Ethiopians.  See  2  Chron. 
xvi.  8. 

If  then  it  be  true  that  Naamah,  the  daughter  of  Lamech,  was 
the  great  female  progenitor  of  the  race  of  Ham,  we  should  expect 
to  find  some  testimony  of  her  remembrance  even  among  her  min 
gled  offspring.  And  since  the  unmixed  race  of  Ham  have  gene 
rally,  at  all  times  of  the  world,  been  too  degraded  to  even  leave 
behind  them  any  written  memorials,  it  is  to  the  mixed  race,-  and 
their  connection  with  the  races  of  Shem  and  Japheth,  that  we  are 
principally  to  look  for  any  particular  fact  concerning  them ;  and 
it  is  reasonable  to  conclude,  as  we  find  this  kind  of  memorial 
among  the  mixed  race,  that  the  same  kind  of  memorial  existed 
much  more  frequently  among  the  unmixed  races  of  Ham. 

"And  the  sons  of  Benjamin  were  Belah,  and  Becher,  and 
Ashbel,  Gera,  and  Naaman,  Ehi,  and  Rosh,  Muppim,  and  Hup. 
pirn,  and  Ard."  Q-en.  xlvi.  21. 

"  The  sons  of  Benjamin  after  their  families  of  Bela,  the  family 
of  the  Belaites  ;  of  Ashbel,  the  family  of  the  Ashbelites  ;  of  Ahi- 
ram,  the  family  of  the  Ahiramites  ;  of  Shupham,  the  family  of 
the  Shuphamites;  of  Hupham,  the  family  of  the  Huphamites. 
And  the  sons  of  Bela  were  Ard  and  Naaman ;  of  Ard,  the  family 
of  Ardites,  and  of  Naaman,  the  family  of  Naamanites."  Num. 
xxvi.  38-40. 

"  Now  Benjamin  begat  Bela  his  first-born,  Ashbel  the  second, 
and  Ahirah  the  third,  Nohah  the  fourth,  and  Rapha  the  fifth. 
And  the  sons  of  Bela  were  Addar,  and  Gera,  and  Abihud,  and 
Abishua,  and  Naaman,  and  Ahoah,  and  Gera,  and  Shephuphan, 
and  Huram.  And  these  are  the  sons  of  Ehud :  these  are  the 
heads  of  the  fathers  of  the  inhabitants  of  Geba,  and  they  removed 
them  to  Manahath.  And  Naaman,  and  Ahiah,  and  Gera,  he  re 
moved  them,  and  begat  Uzra  and  Ahihud.  And  Shaharaim  begat 
children  in  the  country  of  Moab,  after  he  had  sent  them  away." 
1  Chron.  viii.  1-8. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  401 

The  hurried  reader  might  well  apprehend  these  three  different 
accounts  of  the  same  matter  to  be  somewhat  contradictory.  We 
think  otherwise.  We  had,  in  fact,  prepared  several  sheets,  eluci 
dating  these  genealogies  of  Benjamin,  but  upon  a  review  we  found 
much  irrelevant  to  the  subject  of  our  present  inquiry :  we  deem 
only  a  few  remarks  necessary. 

Our  object  is  to  show  that  these  genealogies  prove  that  some 
portion  of  the  family  named  were  coloured  people,  descended  from 
Ham,  and  that  Naaman  is  distinguished  most  clearly  to  be  of  that 
class. 

It  will  be  readily  perceived  that  Muppim  D'JJD,  in  Genesis,  is 

formed  from  fjb  Moph,  and  thus  used  in  Hos.  ix.  6:  "Memphis 
(vjD  Moph)  shall  bury  them."  Our  word  is  a  Hebraism  of  the 

Coptic  word  f]  j  Noph,  the  Nod  of  Genesis,  the  No  of  the  prophets 
Ezekiel  and  Nahum,  and  finally  confounded  with  Memphis. 

It  is  here  used  after  the  form  of  a  Hebrew  masculine  plural, 
and  as  a  caput,  to  aid  in  the  classification  of  the  descendants  of 
Benjamin  ;  and  clearly  designates,  whatever  may  have  been  their 
blood,  that  one  class  were  Memphites. 

So  the  word  huppim  D^Dfl  is  formed  from  the  quite  ancient 
word  £"|n  haph,  which  means  innocence,  purity ;  whence  also  the 
word  H5H  haphah,  covered,  shielded,  protected ;  and  hence, 
H3 H  hupah,  bride-chamber,  the  marriage-bed,  and  marriage  it 
self.  In  this  sense  the  word  is  used  in  Joel  ii.  16,  and  in  several 
other  places,  where  the  translator  has  so  paraphrased  the  idea  as 
to  make  it  imperceptible  to  the  English  reader. 

Nor  is  it  an  unworthy  consideration  in  the  etymology  of  this 
word,  that  from  the  idea  purity,  the  Arabians  borrowed  from  it 

their  word  (jl>  hhar,  to  mean  white,  which  was  quickly  introduced 
into  Hebrew  in  the  word  11H  hur,  and  Tin  hor,  to  mean  white 
also.  Hence,  Mount  "Of!  Hor,  "  the  white  mountain ;"  and 
from  which  branch  of  the  derivation  the  corresponding  words  in 
Numbers  and  Chronicles  have  taken  their  origin.  Here,  then,  we 
have  another  word  used  in  the  same  manner,  to  designate  another 
class  of  the  descendants  of  Benjamin,  as  of  the  pure  stock,  legiti 
mate  and  white. 

The  word  "P.NJ  va  ard  or  ared  in  Genesis,  and  ^"IN  ard  or 
ared  in  Numbers,  is  changed  by  dagesh  and  transposition  into 


462  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


addar  in  Chronicles.  It  is  unnecessary  to  go  into  an  ex 
planation  of  Hebrew  peculiarities.  It  is  probable  that  we  never 
have  had  the  true  pronunciation  of  any  of  these  words.  But  how 
ever  that  may  be,  the  analogy  of  language  seems  to  show  that 


this  word  is  a  cognate  of  the  Arabic  O^c  gharadh,  and  the  Sy 
rian  f£^3  dharadh,  and  from  whence  *"PJ7  harad  or  arad  ; 

yet  there  is  nothing  more  common  than  for  aleph  and  gliain  to 
interchange  in  one  and  the  same  word.  They  are  ever  re 
garded  as  cognates.  But  again,  the  word  is  not  of  Hebrew 
origin,  and  with  the  latter  spelling,  we  find  it  in  Num.  xxi.  1, 
xxxiii.  40,  Josh.  xii.  14,  and  Judges  i.  16,  as  the  name  of  a 
Canaanitish  city.  The  Arabic  is  more  guttural  than  Hebrew, 
and  it  has  two  ghains,  one  more  guttural  than  the  other,  distin 
guished  by  i^D")  revia,  a  resting  upon;  thus,  in  translating 
Arabic  into  Hebrew,  the  one  will  take  the  Hebrew  gJiain,  but  the 
Arabic  gliain  with  which  '  this  word  is  spelled  is  at  once  converted 
into  the  Hebrew  aleph;  so  that  while  we  thus  find  the  very  word, 
we  find  it  with  the  evidence  of  a  Canaanitish  admixture. 

Its  application  in  Hebrew  seems  to  be  mostly  confined  to  the 
ivild  ass,  (see  Dan.  v.  21  ;)  but  the  Syriac  gives  it  effrcenatus, 
effrcenis  fuit,  and  the  Arabic,  durusfuit,  fugit.  Such,  then,  being 
its  signification  in  these  languages,  we  may  well  perceive  its 
adaptedness  to  the  w  ild  ass.  We  all  know  that  the  wild  Arabs  are 
the  descendants  of  Ishmael  ;  now  a  true  synonyme  in  Hebrew  of 
this  word  was  applied  to  him  :  "He  shall  be  a  wild  man;"  he  was 
illegitimate,  mixed-blooded.  The  term  can  apply  to  no  other  than 
such  a  race  as  that  of  Ishmael,  —  wild,  illegitimate,  and  of  impure 
blood. 

In  Numbers  we  find  Shupham,  and  in  Chronicles  Skephuphan, 
substituted  for  the  Muppim  in  Genesis  ;  both  being  the  same  word 
in  different  forms.  The  root  is  '§&$>  shepTii,  a  high  situation  ; 
hence  IO£E>  shapJiat,  a  judge,  and  its  derivatives  are  applied  to 
the  person  or  thing  adjudged.  Hence  nn$^  shiphehhahh,  a 
female  slave  ;  (See  G-en.  xvi;  16  ;  i.  2,  3  ;  also  xx.  14  ;  also 

xxxii.  22  ;)  and  hence,  also  the  Syrian  >^°?A   shafefa,  a  serpent, 

because  the  serpent  had  been  adjudged,  condemned.  Whence  the 
Hebrew  shephiphim,  poetically  used  to  mean  a  serpent,  as,  "Dan 
shall  judge  his  people  ;  Dan  shall  be  a  serpent  by  the  way."  G-en. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


xlix.  16.  In  this  passage  in  Hebrew,  there  is  a  beautiful  paro 
nomasia  in  the  word  Dan,  which  also  means  a  judge,  judge  and 
the  serpent.  But  the  serpent  is  called  [£)'$8^  shephiphon,  only 
as  it  had  been  adjudged  ;  and  it  is  to  be  noticed,  as  here  used,  it 
lias  the  same  points  and  accents  as  in  Chronicles,  and  is  substan 
tially  the  same  word,  —  not,  as  here,  borrowed  from  the  Syriac,  to 
mean  a  serpent,  but  used  to  mean  the  adjudged,  condemned  to 
some  condition  or  degradation.  "And  they  removed  them  to 
Manahath."  ManaJiatli  was  a  district  of  country  near  the  Dead 
Sea,  near  the  ancient  city  Zoar  ;  and  it  is  a  little  remarkable  that 
Zoar  was  by  the  Canaanites  called  Bela,  the  very  name  of  the 
son  of  Benjamin.  The  whole  country  was  called  by  the  general 
term  Moab.  The  fact  that  it  was  a  custom  to  send  persons  of  a 
certain  description  there,  seems  to  be  alluded  to  by  the  prophet  : 
"Let  mine  outcasts  dwell  with  thee,  0  Moab  !"  Isa.  xvi.  4. 

But,  who  were  sent  there?  "Naaman,  Ahia,  and  G-era,  he 
removed  them.  *  *  *  And  Shaharaim  begat  children  in  the  land 
of  Moab  after  he  had  sent  them  away."  This  explains  the  whole 
matter.  Shaharaim  is  a  plural  formation  of  Shihor,  and  means 
black.  "And  these  blacks  begat  children  in  the  land  of  Moab 
after  he  had  sent  them  away,"—  that  is,  Naaman,  Ahia,  and  G-era; 
further  establishing  the  fact  that  the  word  Naamah  is  kept  in 
remembrance  only  by  the  descendants  of  Ham.  One  class  of  the 
race  of  Benjamin  is  described  in  Genesis  as  Memphites;  in  fact, 
that  whole  genealogy  substantially  divides  them  into  those  who 
were  white,  and  of  pure  descent,  and  into  those  who  were  not 
white,  and  of  impure  descent.  Numbers  and  Chronicles  confirm 
and  warrant  the  same  distinction^ 

The  seventh  Psalm  commences  thus  :—  "  Shiggaion  of  David, 
which  he  sang  unto  the  Lord,  concerning  the  words  of  Cush,  the 
Benjamite."  It  would  have  been  more  readily  understood,  and 
more  decidedly  a  translation  thus:  A  song  of  lamentation  of 
David,  which  he  sang  unto  the  Lord,  concerning  the  ivords  of  an 
Ethiopian,  a  Benjamite. 

The  word  "Cush,"  as  often  elsewhere,  is  here  used  to  designate 
a  descendant  of  Ham  by  his  colour.  But  it  clearly  proves  an 
amalgamation,  to  some  extent,  of  the  race  of  Ham,  in  the  family 
of  Benjamin. 

Indeed,  the  race  of  Benjamin  had  become  deeply  intermixed 
with  the  descendants  of  Ham  ;  and  this  fact  well  accounts  why 


464  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

they  did,  upon  an  occasion,  behave  like  as  the  Sodomites  to  Lot ; 
and  why  the  other  tribes  of  Israel  so  readily  joined  in  league  to 
utterly  destroy  and  annihilate  this  tribe,  and  did  put  to  death  fifty 
thousand  warriors  in  one  day,  and  every  man,  woman,  and  child 
of  the  whole  tribe,  except  a  few  hundred  men,  who  hid  in  the 
rock  Rimmon.  See  Judges  xix.  xx. 


LESSON  XL 

IT  remains  now  to  examine  what  proof  there  exists  that  the  de 
scendants  of  Ham  were  black.  We  wish  to  impress  upon  the  mind 
the  fact,  that  among  all  aboriginal  nations,  and  in  all  primitive 
languages,  proper  names  are  always  significant  terms.  Such  is  the 
fact  among  the  Indian  tongues  of  America  at  this  day.  The  holy 
books  give  ample  proof  that  such  was  eminently  the  case  among 
the  ancient  Hebrews.  Every  name  that  Adam  bestowed  was  the 
consequence  of  some  cause  that  operated  on  his  mind.  And  if  we 
examine  minutely  into  the  influences  operating  even  among  our 
selves,  in  such  cases,  we  shall  be  unable  to  deny  that  such  is  the 
universal  law.  There  is  a  cause  for  every  thing. 

"  And  the  sons  of  Ham  (were)  Gush  and  Misraim,  and  Phut  and 
Canaan."  Gen.  x.  6. 

It  will  not  be  denied  that  the  word  Ethiopian,  as  used  in  Scrip 
ture,  means  a  black  man.  "  Can  the  Ethiopian  change  his  skin, 
or  the  leopard  his  spots."  Jer.  xiii.  23.  The  word  "Ethiopian," 
in  this  passage  from  Jeremiah,  is  translated  from  '£^3  Cushi,  the 
very  name  of  the  oldest  son  of  Ham.  And  we  shall  find  in  every 
instance  where  in  the  Old  Testament  the  word  Ethiopia  or  Ethio 
pian  is  used,  that  it  is  translated  from  the  same  word,  varied  in 
termination  according  to  the  position  in  which  it  is  used,  and  as 
applied  to  country  or  people.  "Are  ye  not  as  the  children  of  the 
Ethiopians  (D^D  Cushiim)  unto  me?"  Amos  ix.  7.  It  became 
and  was  used  as  a  general  term,  by  which  all  descendants  of  Hani 
were  designated  by  their  colour,  in  the  same  manner  as  we  now 
use  the  Latin  word  negro  to  designate  the  same  thing.  "And 
Miriam  and  Aaron  spake  against  Moses  because  of  the  Ethiopian 
woman  whom  he  had  married :  for  he  had  married  an  Ethiopian 
woman."  Num.  xii.  1.  And  we  deem  these  facts  alone  sufficient 


STUDIES   ON   S1AVERY.  465 

to    establish  the  truth    of  the   proposition  that  that  branch  of 
Ham's  family  were  black. 

In  the  examination  of  what  evidence  may  now  be  found  that  tl 
family  of  Misraim  were  black,  we  beg  to  notice  a  fact  which  we 
suppose  no  scholar  will  dispute— that  he  settled  in  Egypt,  and,  m 
fact,  gave  his  name  to  that  country.   As  Gush  gave  his  name  to  all 
Ethiopia  and  its  inhabitants,  as  Canaan  gave  his  name  to  the  land 
of  Canaan,  and  Canaanites  to  its  inhabitants,  so  Misraim  gave  1 
name  to  Egypt  and  its  inhabitants.     Whenever  we  find  the  word 
Eo-ypt  or  Egyptian  in  our  English  version,  we  never  fail  to  find 
DHVP  Mitsraim  in  the  Hebrew  text.    His  descendants  took  upoi 
them  the  particular  appellation  Misraimites,  as  in  Gen.  xvi.  1 : 
"  And  she  had  a  handmaid,  (nn?tr  shiphehhah,  a  female  slave,) 
an  Egyptian,  (nn.VP  Mitsrith)"*  descendant  of  Misraim,)  whose 
name   was   Hagar.'"'     She   was   a   Misraim,  a  descendant  Jrom 
the  second  son  of  Ham.    The  word  is  translated  "  Egyptian."     A 
family  feud  growing  up  upon  the  occasion  of  her  having  a  son  by 
her  master  Abraham,  she  and  her  son  were  sent  away  to  the,  wil 
derness  of  Paran;  where,  when  the  son  was  grown,  she  took 
a  wife  of  her  own  race,  from  the  land  of  Egypt.  See  den.  xxi.  2 
The  descendants  of  Ishmael,  therefore,  were  three-fourths  of  Mis 
raimitish  blood,  and  are  known  and  distinguished  as  of  his  race, 
by  the  particular  name  of  Ishmaelites. 

Midian  was  a  district  of  country  lying  near  to  and  including 
Mount  Sinai.  The  people,  in  reference  to  the  country,  were  callc 
Midianites,  but  without  any  reference  to  their  descent  or  race. 
From  the  position  of  the  district  of  country  called  Midian,  it 
would  be  reasonable  to  suppose  the  inhabitants  in  after  times  to  be 
descended  from  Ishmael ;  and  in  fact,  whenever  we  find  any  allu 
sion  made  to  the  whole  country  of  the  Ishmaelites,  we  shall  find 
it  to  include  Midian.  But  it  may  be  proper  to  remark,  that  from 
a  notable  mountain  called  Gilead,  situated  in  this  region,  the 
whole  country  was  sometimes  called  by  that  name,  and  one  of  the 
cities  in  it  also  called  Gilead. 

We  are  all  acquainted  with  that  most  beautiful  and  pathet 
history  of  Joseph  ;  but  let  us  read  a  passage— and  we  pray  you  to 
notice  with  distinctness  the  language  : 

«  And  they  lifted  up  their  eyes  and  looked,  and  behold  a  com 
pany  of  Ishmaelites  came  from  Gilead,  with  their  camels  bearing 
spicery  and  balm  and  myrrh,  going  to  carry  it  down  to  Egypt. 
*  *  *  An<}  Judah  said,  *  *  *  Come,  let  us  sell  him  to  the 

30 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

Ishmaelites,  and  let  not  our  hand  be  upon  him.  *  *  *  And  his 
brethren  were  content.  Then  there  passed  by  Midianites,  mer 
chantmen,  and  they  drew  and  lifted  up  Joseph  out  of  the  pit,  and 
sold  Joseph  to  the  Ishmaelites;  and  the  Midianites  sold  him  into 
Egypt  unto  Potiphar.  And  Joseph  was  brought  down  to  Egypt 
and  Potiphar,  an  officer  of  Pharaoh,  captain  of  the  guard,  an 
Egyptian,  bought  him  of  the  hands  of  the  Ishmaelites  which  had 
brought  him  down  thither."  Gen.  xxxvii.  25-36,  and  xxxix.  1.  Is 
it  not  positive  and  clear  that  the  Ishmaelites  and  the  Midianites 
were  one  and  the  same  people  ? 

But  again,  there  was,  during  the  days  of  the  judges,  a  destruc 
tive  war  between  the  Israelites  and  the  Midianites.  "And  the 
Midianites  and  the  Amalekites,  and  all  the  children  of  the  east, 
lay  along  in  the  valley,  like  grasshoppers  for  multitude.  *  *  * 
And  when  Gideon  was  come,  behold,  there  was  a  man  that  told  a 
And  when  Zeba  and  Zalmunna  fled,  he  pursued 
after  them,  and  took  the  two  kings  of  Midian,  Zeba  and  Zalmunna, 
and  discomfited  all  the  host. 

"And  Gideon  the  son  of  Joash  returned  from  the  battle  before 
the   sun  was  up.  *     *     Then  the  men  of  Israel  said  unto 

Gideon,  Rule  thou  over  us,  both  thou  and  thy  son,  and  thy  son's 
son  also,  for  thou  hast'  delivered  us  from  the  hand  of  Midian. 
And  Gideon  said  unto  them,  I  would  desire  a  request  of  you,  that 
you  would  give  me  every  man  the  ear-rings  of  his  prey.  (For  they 
had  golden  ear-rings,  because  they  were  Ishmaelites.)"  See  Judo 
vii.  12-14,  also  viii.  12-24. 

Here  then  is  another  instance  where  the  Midianites  and  the 
Ishmaelites  are  announced  to  be  the  same  people.  "At  the 
mouth  of  two  witnesses  shall  the  matter  be  established."  See 
Lent.  xix.  15  ;  also  2  Cor.  xiii.  1.  «  Now  Moses  kept  the  flock  of 
Jethro  his  father-in-law,  the  priest  of  Midian."  Exod.  iii.  1. 

"  When  Jethro,  the  priest  of  Midian,  Moses'  father-in-law,  heard 
of  all  that  God  had  done  for  Moses,  and  for  Israel  his  people,  and 
that  the  Lord  had  brought  Israel  out  of  Egypt,  then  Jethro,  Moses' 
father-in-law,  took  Zipporah,  Moses'  wife,  (after  he  had  sent  her 
back,)  and  her  two  sons."  Exod.  xviii.  1,  2,  3. 

"And  Miriam  and  Aaron  spake  against  Moses,  because  of  the 
Ethiopian  woman  whom  he  had  married,  for  he  had  married  an 
Ethiopian  woman."  Num.  xii.  1. 

Even  in  the  poetic  strain  of  the  prophet,  there  is  a  vestige  that 
goes  to  prove  the  sameness  between  the  Midianites  and  the  Mhio. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  467 


plans.     "I  saw  the  tents  of  Cushan  (]&M  Ethiopians)  in  afflic 
tion,  and  the  curtains  of  the  land  of  Midian  did  tremble."  Hal. 

"'Are  these  facts  no  proof  that  the  descendants  of  Misraim  were 
black  ? 

Let  us  then  proceed  to  the  same  inquiry  concerning  the  de 

scendants  of  Phut. 

In  the  Antiquities  of  Josephus,  book  i.  6,  we  find  the  following: 
«  The  children  of  Ham  possessed  the  land  from  Syria  and  Amanus 
and  the  mountains  of  Lybanus  ;  seizing  upon  all  that  was  upon  the 
seacoasts  and  as  far  as  the  ocean,  and  keeping  it  as  their  own 
Some,  indeed,  of  its  names  are  utterly  vanished  away;  others 
them  being  changed,  and  another  sound  given,  hardly  to  be  disco 
vered  •  yet  a  few  there  are,  which  kept  their  denominations  entire. 
For  of  the  four  sons  of  Ham,  time  has  not  at  all  hurt  the  name 
of  Chus;  for  the  Ethiopians,  over  whom  he  reigned,  are  even 
this  day,  both  by  themselves  and  by  all  men  of  Asia,  called  Chus- 
ites  "     "The  memory  also  of  the  Mesraites  is  preserved  in  their 
name   for  we  who  inhabit  this  country  (Judea)  call  Egypt  Mestra, 
and  the  Egyptians  Mestreans.    Phut  also  was  the  founder  of  Lybia, 
and  called  the  inhabitants  Phutites,  from  himself.     There  is  also  a 
river  in  the  country  of  the  Moors  which  bears  that  name,  whence 
it  is  that  we  may  see  the  greatest  part  of  the  Grecian  historio 
graphers  mention  that  river,  and  the  adjoining  country,  by  1 
appellation  of  Phut.     But  the  name  it  has  now  has  been  by  change 
given  it  from  one  of  the  sons  of  Mestraim,  who  was  called  Lybios. 
His  name,  in  the  English  version  of  Genesis,  is  Ludim. 
the  Lybian  desert  has  taken  its  name,  and  the  country  now  calle 
Lybia      Thus  we  discover  from  Josephus  that  the  memorials  of 
the  nephew  had  obliterated  those  of  Phut,  his  uncle.     As  I 
was  the  founder  of  Lybia,  which  was   at  one  time  called  by  his 
name,  it  may  be  well  to  inquire  as  to  the  extent  of  that  region 
that  we  may  know  where  the  descendants  of  Phut  have  resided 
from  the  time  of  their  progenitor  till  now. 

In  order  to  form  a  tolerably  correct  idea  of  what  was  the  country 
once  called  Phut,  we  have  to  examine  how  far  the  son  of 
extended  his  name  in  superseding  him.     We  quote  from  the  Mel 
pomene  of  Herodotus,  where  he  compares  the  extent  of  Lybia, 
Asia,  and  Europe.     Concerning  Lybia,  he  says— 

«  Except  in  that  particular  part  which  is  contiguous  to  Asia,  tl 


468  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

whole  of  Lybia  is  surrounded  by  the  sea.  The  first  person  who 
has  proved  this  was,  as  far  as  we  are  able  to  judge,  Necho,  king 
of  Egypt :  when  he  had  desisted  from  his  attempt  to  join,  by  a 
canal,  the  Nile  with  the  Arabian  Gulf,  he  despatched  some  vessels, 
under  the  conduct  of  Phoenicians,  with  Directions  to  pass  the  columns 
of  Hercules,  and,  after  penetrating  the  Northern  Ocean,  to  return 
to  Egypt. 

;i  These  Phoenicians,  taking  their  course  from  the  Red  Sea,  en 
tered  into  the  Southern  Ocean.  On  the  approach  of  autumn  they 
landed  in  Lybia,  and  planted  some  corn  in  the  place  where  they 
happened  to  find  themselves.  When  this  was  ripe,  and  they  had 
cut  it  down,  they  again  departed. 

"  Having  thus  consumed  two  years,  they  in  the  third  doubled 
the  columns  of  Hercules  and  returned  to  Egypt.  Their  relation 
may  obtain  attention  from  others,  but  to  me  it  seems  incredible ; 
for  they  affirm  that,  having  sailed  round  Lybia,  they  had  the  sun 
on  their  right  hand.  Thus  was  Lybia  for  the  first  time  known." 

Hanno,  a  Carthaginian,  was  sent,  about  600  years  before  our 
era,  with  30,000  of  his  countrymen,  to  found  colonies  on  what  is 
now  the  western  coast  of  Africa.  His  account  commences—"  The 
voyage  of  Hanno,  commander  of  the  Carthaginians,  round  the 
parts  of  Lybia,  which  lie  beyond  the  pillars  of  Hercules." 

^  In  the  body  of  the  work  he  says— "  When  we  had  passed  the 
pillars  on  our  voyage,  and  sailed  beyond  them  two  days,  we  founded 
the  first  city,  which  we  named  Thurmiaterium.  Below  it  lay  an 
extensive  plain.  Proceeding  thence  towards  the  west,  we  came  to 
Solous,  a  promontory  of  Lybia." 

Having  proceeded  on  with  his  voyage,  he  says—"  We  came  to 
the  great  Lixus,  which  flows  from  Lybia ;  on  its  banks  the  Lixitse, 
a  shepherd  tribe,  were  feeding  their  flocks,  among  whom  we  con 
tinued  several  days,  on  friendly  terms.  Beyond  the  Lixitse  dwell 
the  inhospitable  Ethiopians.''' 

Herodotus,  immediately  preceding  our  quotation  of  him,  says— 
"  Lybia  commences  where  Egypt  ends  ;  about  Egypt  the  country 
is  narrow ;  one  hundred  thousand  orgiac,  or  one  thousand  stadia, 
comprehend  the  space  between  this  and  the  Red  Sea.  Here  the 
country  expands  and  takes  the  name  of  Lybia." 

Africa,  to  an  indefinite  extent,  was  the  country  of  Phut. 
The  result  of  the  inquiry  thus  far  is,  that  the  tribes  of  Phut 
amalgamated  with  the   descendants   of  Misraim,  until   all  family 
memorials  of  them  became  extinct.     But  let  us  examine  what  me- 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  469 

morials  of  Phut  are  to  be  found  in  the  holy  books.  "Ethiopia 
and  Egypt  were  thy  strength,  Put  and  Lubim  were  thy  helpers." 
Nahum  m.  9. 

Put  is  the  same  Phut ;  in  the  text  the  Utter  is  dagheshed,  which 
takes  away  the  aspirate  sound.  We  here  notice  that  Put  and  Lu 
bim  are  associated  together. 

"  They  of  Persia,  and  of  Lud,  and  of  Phut,  were  in  thine  army, 
thy  men  of  war."  Ezek.  xxvii.  10. 

"Persia,  Ethiopia,  and  Lybia  with  them:  all  of  them  with 
shield  and  helmet."  Ezek.  xxxviii.  5. 

In  this  instance  the  word  LyUa  is  translated  from  Phut.  We 
take  this  as  proof  that  the  country  of  the  son  of  Misraim  and  Phut 
was  the  same,  and  the  two  families  amalgamated. 

"  Come  up,  ye  horses,  and  rage,  ye  chariots  :  and  let  the  mighty 
men  Come  forth,  the  Ethiopians  and  the  Lybians  that  handle  the 
shield."  Jer.  xlvi.  9.  Lylians  is  also  here  translated  from  Phut. 
"Were  not  the  Ethiopians  and  the  Lubims  a  huge  host?"  2 
Cfhron.  xvi.  8.  There  Phut  is  lost  in  that  of  Lubim,  as  accounted 
for  by  Josephus.  The  families  were  wholly  amalgamated,  the 
nephew  carrying  off  the  trophy  of  remembrance. 

The  proof  that  the  family  of  Phut  were  black  is  rather  inferen 
tial  than  positive  ;  but  can  the  mind  fail  to  determine  that  it  is 
certain  ? 

But  again,  Phut,  as  an  appellative,  signifies  scattered.  Thus 
Num.  x.  30.  "Let  thine  enemies  be  scattered,"  (1¥£)  phutsu.) 
In  Genesis  x.  18,  it  is  used  with  the  same  Heemanti,  and  with  the 
same  effect,  which  we  have  noticed  in  the  word  NaamaJi,  thus : 
"  And  afterwards  were  the  families  of  the  Canaanites  spread  abroad" 
Vj>£0  naphotsu.  The  idea  is,  by  the  influence  of  the  circumstances 
attending  them,  they  were  scattered.  The  condition  is  involuntary, 
the  action  implied  is  reflective.  A  similar  use  of  the  word  occurs 
in  2  Samuel  xviii.  8:  "The  battle  was  scattered,"  H1V94  naPllot~ 
seth  ;  that  is,  it  was  scattered  only  as  it  was  forced  to  be  by  the 
circumstances  attending  it.  The  distinctive  appellation  thus  of 
the  family  of  Phut,  means  a  scattered  people.  The  phonetic 
synonyme  of  Phut  means  scattered,  in  all  the  Shemitic  tongues. 

Thus  in  Arabic,  (j*>&9  phats,  and  its  variations,  put  down,  abiit, 
peregrinatus  fuit  in  terra,  &c.  In  Coptic,  <§&TK  phet  has  the 
same  meaning  ;  but  in  the  hieroglyphical  writings  of  the  Copts, 


470  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

found  in  Egypt,  the  idea  scattered  is  represented  by  an  arrow. 
But  an  arrow  is  called  phet,  because  it  is  shot  away,  scattered. 
And  the  country  or  people  of  the  Phutites  is  represented  by  a  bow, 
segment  of  a  globe,  nine  arrows,  and  an  undulating  surface.  Those 
who  have  made  researches  in  such  matters  say,  the  phonetic 
power  of  this  is  nephaiat.  It  will  be  perceived  to  be  quite  analo 
gous  to  the  Heemanti  prefixed  to  the  root.  The  people  who  Jiave 
been  compelled  to  be  exceedingly  scattered. 

When  Jonathan  wished  in  an  emphatic  manner  to  signify  to  his 
friend  David  that  he  should  depart,  go  off  from  his  family,  &c., 
he  shot  an  arrow  beyond  him.  Was  not  the  arrow  emblematical 
of  what  was  supposed  his  only  safe  condition  ? 

These  explanations  as  to  the  significance  of  the  word  Phut  will 
enable  us  better  to  understand  Zephaniah  iii.  10.  "  From  beyond 
the  rivers  of  Ethiopia,  my  suppliants,  even  the  daughter  of  my  dis 
persed,  (»ift£rfl5  bath  Putsa,  the  descendants  of  Phut,)  shall  bring 
mine  offering."  Unknown  and  scattered  as  they  are  over  the 
trackless  wastes  of  Africa,  yet  even  to  them  shall  come  the  know 
ledge  of  the  true  God.  They  shall,  at  one  day,  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth. 

The  hieroglyphical  record  relating  to  the  Phutites  is  considered, 
by  those  versed  in  such  matters,  to  point  to  a  period  of  at  least 
2000  years  anterior  to  our  era.  The  inference,  to  our  mind, 
is  clear,  that  the  family  of  Phut  at  an  exceedingly  ancient  period 
was  wholly  absorbed  and  lost  sight  of  among  the  other  families 
of  Ham,  especially  in  that  of  Ludim,  the  oldest  son  of  Mitsraim : 
that  they  were  of  the  same  colour  and  other  family  distinctions, 
unless  it  may  be  they  differed  in  a  deeper  degradation :  that  for 
numberless  ages  the  mass  of  the  descent  are  alone  to  be  found  in 
the  most  barbarous  portions  of  Africa. 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  471 


LESSON  XII. 

IN  the  inquiry,  What  evidence  have  we  that  the  Oanaanites  were 
black  ?  we  may  find  it  necessary  to  refer  to  various  facts  which 
have  come  down  to  us,  connecting  their  history  with  that  of  the 
Israelitish  people. 

Perhaps  no  fact  could  be  better  established  than  that  Abraham 
lived  on  the  most  friendly  terms  with  the  Canaanites.  He  was  a 
confederate  with  their  kings.  When  they  lost  a  battle,  he  re 
trieved  it.  They  treated  him  with  the  utmost  regard,  and  he  them 
with  a  generous  liberality.  Could  he  not  have  wedded  his  son 
among  them,  to  whom  he  chose  ? 

"  And  Abraham  said  unto  the  eldest  servant  of  his  house,  that 
ruled  over  all  that  he  had,  Put,  I  pray  thee,  thy  hand  under  my 
thigh  :  and  I  will  make  thee  swear  by  the  Lord,  the  God  of  heaven, 
and  the  God  of  the  earth,  that  thou  shalt  not  take  a  wife  unto 
my  son  of  the  daughters  of  the  Canaanites  among  whom  I  dwell." 
G-en.  xxiv.  2,  3. 

Under  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  what  could  have  influenced 
such  a  determination  ? 

"  And  Rebecca  said  unto  Isaac,  I  am  weary  of  my  life,  because 
of  the  daughters  of  Heth :  if  Jacob  take  a  wife  of  the  daughters 
of  Heth,  such  as  those  which  are  the  daughters  of  the  land,  what 
good  shall  my  life  do  me  ?  And  Isaac  called  Jacob,  and  blessed 
him,  and  charged  him,  Thou  shalt  not  take  a  wife  of  the  daughters 
of  Canaan."  Cren.  xxvii.  46,  xxviii.  1. 

On  what  rational  ground  are  we  to  account  for  this  extraordinary 
repugnance  ? 

The  conduct  of  the  sons  of  Jacob  does  not  determine  them  to 
have  been  very  sincerely  religious.  The  soul  of  Shechem,  a  prince 
of  the  country,  clave  unto  Dinah  their  sister ;  he  was  rich,  and 
offered  ever  so  much  dowry  for  an  honourable  marriage  with  her ; 
and  to  show  his  sincerity,  even  abandoned  his  old,  and  adopted 
their  religion.  There  must  have  been  some  other  deep  and  un 
alterable  cause  for  their  unchangeable  aversion  to  that  proposed 
marriage  of  their  sister. 

"  When  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  bring  thee  into  the  land  whither 


472  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

thou  goest  to  possess  it,  and  hath  cast  out  many  nations  before  thee, 
the  Hittites,  and  the  Girgashites,  and  the  Amorites,  and  the  Ca~ 
naanites,  and  the  Perizzites,  and  the  Hivites,  and  the  Jebusites, 
seven  nations  greater  and  mightier  than  thou ; 

"  And  when  the  Lord  thy  God  shall  deliver  them  before  thee, 
thou  shalt  smite  them  and  utterly  destroy  them ;  thou  shalt  make 
no  covenant  with  them,  nor  show  mercy  unto  them : 

"Neither  shalt  thou  make  marriages  with  them;  thy  daughter 
thou  shalt  not  give  unto  his  son,  nor  his  daughter  shalt  thou  take 
unto  thy  son."  Deut.  vii.  1,  2,  3. 

The  laws  of  God  are  always  predicated  upon  some  sufficient 
cause :  in  such  cases  we  may  ever  notice  a  tendency  towards  the 
prevention  of  deterioration. 

"  Whosoever  lieth  with  a  beast  shall  surely  be  put  to  death.'* 
Ex.  xxii.  19. 

The  terms  Japhet,  Laban,  Hor,  and  their  derivatives  in  signifi- 
cancy  ever  include  the  idea  white,  of  a  light  colour.  These  terms 
are  applied  among  the  descendants  of  Japheth  and  Shem,  as  the 
appellatives  of  their  races  and  individual  names,  and  as  adjectives 
in  description  of  their  personal  appearance,  too  frequently  to  per 
mit  a  doubt  of  these  families  belonging  to  the  white  race. 

There  is  but  a  single  case  in  all  the  holy  books,  where  any  of 
these  terms  is  applied  to  a  person  of  colour,  and  which  we  trust 
we  have  explained  ;  and  if  our  view  be  correct,  how  came  the 
poet  to  require  its  use  there,  unless  to  elevate  the  character  he 
celebrates  !  Do  we  use  any  term  to  signify  that  a  person  is  white 
in  a  country  where  there  are  none  but  white  people  ?  Whatever 
evidence  then  there  may  be  that  the  families  of  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob  were  white  people,  is  also  just  as  positive  testimony 
that  the  Canaanites  were  black.  See  Gf-en.  xxvi.  34,  35. 

But  in  Judges  i.  16,  we  find  that  the  family  of  the  race  of  Ishmael 
out  of  which  Moses  took  his  wife  are  denominated  Kenites.  We 
think  that  we  have  abundantly  proved  that  they  were  black.  From 
this  connection  of  Moses,  the  Israelites  seem  to  have  felt  some 
regard  for  that  race.  Now  it  appears  that  some  of  that  descent 
were  afterwards  residing  in  the  cities  of  Amalek ;  for  we  find  in 
1  Samuel  xv.  6,  that  "  Saul  said  unto  the  Kenites,  Go,  depart,  get 
ye  down  from  among  the  Amalekites,  lest  I  destroy  you  with 
them,  for  ye  showed  kindness  to  all  the  children  of  Israel  when 
they  came  out  of  Egypt.  So  the  Kenites  departed."  How  should 
it  be  a  fact,  since  they  were  black,  that  he  could  not  distinguish 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  473 

them  from  the  Arnalekites,  unless  the  Amalekites  were  black 
also? 

The  Amalekites  were  Canaanites,  notwithstanding  they  claimed 
Esau  in  their  ancestry.  "  Esau  took  his  wives  of  the  daughters 
of  Canaan.  Adah  the  daughter  of  Ebon  the  Hittite  ;  *  *  * 
and  Adah  bore  to  Esau,  Eliphaz ;  *  *  *  and  Timna  was  con 
cubine  to  Eliphaz,  Esau's  son  ;  and  she  bore  to  Eliphaz,  Amalek." 
Gren.  xxxvi.  2,  4,  12. 

The  Amalekites  were  one  of  those  tribes,  that  the  Israelites 
were  particularly  commanded  to  destroy  from  off  the  earth ;  and 
in  them,  he  who  amalgamates  with  the  daughters  of  Ham  may 
see  his  own  prospect  as  to  posterity. 


LESSON  XIII. 


THERE  are  circumstances  in  evidence  that  the  descendants  of 
Ham  were  black,  more  properly  referable  to  the  whole  family  than 
to  either  particular  branch. 

Among  this  class  of  circumstances,  we  might  mention  the  tradi 
tion  so  universal  through  the  world,  that  we  know  no  age  of  time 
or  portion  of  the  globe  that  can  be  named  in  exception,  that  the 
descendants  of  Ham  were  black ;  and  that  the  fact  announced  by 
that  tradition  is  made  exceedingly  more  probable  by  the  corre 
sponding  tradition,  that  the  descendants  of  Japheth  and  Shem  were 
white. 

,  The  holy  books  provide  proof  that  Abraham  and  Sarah,  Isaac 
arid  Rebecca,  Jacob,  Leah,  and  Rachel,  were  white.  Their  de 
scendants  sojourned  in  Egypt  in  a  state  of  bondage  about  four 
hundred  years,  in  the  course  of  which  time  there  was  a  law  that 
all  the  male  Hebrew  children  should  be  put  to  death  at  their  birth. 
When  the  mother  of  Moses  put  him  in  the  ark  of  bulrushes,  she 
would  have  disguised  his  birth  as  much  as  possible,  for  the  safety 
of  his  life.  Yet  no  sooner  had  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh  beheld 
the  infant  than  she  proclaimed  it  to  be  a  Hebrew  child.  If  there 
was  no  difference  of  colour,  from  whence  this  quick  decision  as  to 
the  nationality  of  an  infant  three  months  old  ? 

But  during  the  residence  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt,  it  is  to  be 


474  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


apprehended  there  was  more  or  less  commixture  between  the  two 
races ;  and,  if  the  two  races  were  of  different  colour,  that  there 
would  have  been  left  us  some  allusion  to  such  offspring ;  and  so 
we  find  the  fact. 

"  And  the  children  of  Israel  journeyed  from  Rameses  to  Succoth, 
about  six  hundred  thousand  on  foot,  that  were  men,  besides 
children.  And  a  mixed  multitude  went  up  also  with  them." 
Exod.  xii.  37,  38.  The  word  "  mixed"  is  translated  from  3*1  J/* 
ereb,  arab.  The  word  means  of  mixed-blood,  that  is,  the  mixture 
of  the  white  man  with  the  black ;  and  in  consequence  thereof  is 
often  used  to  mean  black  itself,  and  is  universally  applied  as  the 
appellative,  and  has  become  the  established  name  of  the  mixed- 
blooded  people  of  Arabia,  the  Arabs;  and  because  it  became  a 
common  term  to  express  the  idea  black,  a  dark  colour,  &c.,  it 
was  applied  to  the  raven ;  and  even  at  this  day,  who  can  tell 
whether  Elijah  was  fed  by  the  ravens  or  the  Arabs,  because  the 
one  word  was  used  to  mean  both  or  either.  And  a  multitude  of 
persons  of  colour,  of  Hebrew  and  black  parentage,  went  up  also  with 
them. 

This  word  is  used  to  express  the  idea  of  a  mulatto  race,  in 
Num.  xi.  4,  and  the  "  mixed  multitude  ;"  also  Neli.  xiii.  3,  "  They 
separated  from  Israel  all  the  mixed  multitude  ;"  also  Jer.  xxv.  20,24, 
thus  :  "And  all  the  mingled  people,"  mixed-blooded,  "and  all  the 
kings  of  Arabia,  and  all  the  kings  of  the  mingled  people,"  mixed- 
blooded  people.  By  the  expression  mixed  multitude,  it  is  clear 
Moses  included  the  offspring  of  the  Hebrew  with  the  race  of  Ham. 
But  would  there  have  been  such  distinction  if  there  was  no  differ 
ence  of  colour  ?  It  will  be  recollected  that  the  children  of  Ishrnael 
were  three-fourths  of  Misraimitish  blood,  consequently  quite  dark. 
It  will  also  be  recollected  that  when  Esau  perceived  how  extremely 
offensive  to  his  father  and  mother  was  his  connection  with  the 
Canaanitish  women,  that  he  took  wives  of  the  house  of  Ishmael. 
It  should  also  be  recollected  that  Ishmael  named  one  of  his  sons 
Kedar.  As  we  shall  hereafter  refer  to  this  word,  we  propose  to 
examine  its  meaning  and  formation.  It  is  of  Arabic  derivation, 

«> 

Arab.  (j<3,  Hebrew  "1*1  dar,  and  in  this  form  is  used  Estli.  i.  6, 

and  translated  black  marble.  With  the  prefix  of  the  Hebrew  koph  it 
becomes  *l"Tp  Kedar,  and  is  equivalent  to  "the  black."  It  is 
used  in  Hebrew  to  mean  black,  in  1  Kings  xviii.  45;  Jobvi.  16, 30, 28 ; 
Isa.  Ix.  3  ;  Jer.  iv.  28  ;  JEzek.  xxxii.  7,  8,  and  many  other  places. 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  475 

The  very  name  of  the  son  of  Ishrnael  was  tantamount  to  "  the 
black." 

In  the  poem  called  Solomon's  Song,  the  female  whose  praises  are 
therein  celebrated,  says,  "  I  am  blacky  but  comely,  0  ye  daughters 
of  Jerusalem,  as  the  tents  of  Kedar,  as  the  curtains  of  Solomon. 
Look  not  upon  me  because  I  am  black;  because  the  sun  hath 
looked  upon  me  :  my  mother's  children  were  angry  with  me,  they 
made  me  the  keeper  of  the  vineyards,  but  mine  own  vineyards 
have  I  not  kept."  Cant.i.  5,  6. 

The  word  black,  which  twice  occurred  in  the  text,  is  translated 
from  intJ*  shahaTy  with  many  variations.  The  words  mean 
abstractly  the  idea  black.  Examples  of  its  use  will  be  found  in 
Lev.  xiii.  31,  37,  thus:  "  And  there  is  no  black  hair  in  it."  "And 
there  is  black  hair  grown  up  therein."  Job  xxx.  30:  "  My  skin 
is  black  upon  me."  Zech.  vi.  2,  6  :  "  And  in  the  second  chariots 
black  horses.  The  black  horses  that  are  therein."  Lam.iv.8: 
"  Their  visage  is  blacker  than  a  coal."  Cant.  v.  11  :  "  His  locks  are 
bushy  and  black  as  a  raven."  There  is  no  mistake  about  the 
meaning  of  this  word  ;  she  was  surely  llack,  and  she  says  that  she 
is  as  black  as  the  tents  of  Kedar. 

The  inquiry,  then,  now  is,  who  was  she?  When  we  take  into 
consideration  the  Asiatic  mode  of  expression,  from  the  term 
"  because  the  sun  hath  looked  upon  me,"  we  are  forced  to  under 
stand  that  she  was  from  a  more  southern  region.  That  she  was 
not  a  native  of  Palestine,  or  especially  of  Jerusalem.  Figures  of 
somewhat  analogous  import  are  occasionally  found  among  the 
Roman  poets.  But  we  suppose,  no  one  will  undertake  the  argu 
ment  that  she  was  black,  merely  because  she  had  been  exposed  to 
the  sun  ! 

In  vii.  1  of  the  Hebrew  text,  she  is  called  Shulamite.  Some  sup 
pose  this  is  a  formation  of  the  Gentile  term  DJJIS^  Shunem,  be 
cause  they  say  the  lamda  was  sometimes  introduced.  In  that 
case  it  would  be  the  synonyme  of  Shunamite,  and  would  locate  her 
in  the  tribe  of  Issacar.  But  we  see  no  necessity  of  a  forced  con 
struction,  when  a  very  easy  and  natural  one  is  more  obvious. 
We  omit  the  dagesh.  fVpS^  Shulammith  is  readily  formed  as  the 
feminine  of  TO  7^  Shelomohy  Solomon,  after  the  Arabic  form 


Suleiman,  and,  so  used,  would  be  quite  analogous  to 
what  is  now  quite  common  —  to  apply  the  husband's  name  as  an 
appellative  of  the  wife.  Upon  the  occasion  of  her  consecration 


476  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

into  Solomon's  household,  she  well  might,  even  at  that  age,  be 
called  by  a  term  that  would  imply  such  consecration,  especially  in 
the  poem  celebrating  her  nuptials.     And  we  may  remark  that  the 
use  of  this  word  is  in  strict  conformity  to  the  usage  of  the  Hebrew 
and  Arabic  poets,  because  it  creates  an  implied  paronomasia,  de 
rived  from  SW,  signifying  that  she  was  a  captive  by  her  love  to 
Solomon,  and  if  she  stood  in  any  such  relation  to  him  politically,  the 
beauty  of  the  figure  would  at  that  age  have  been  considered  very 
greatly  increased.     The  poets,  at  that  age  of  time,  in  compositions 
of  the  character  of  this  poem,  appear  to  have  been  ever  on  the 
search  for  an  occasion  to  introduce  figures  of  this  class ;  and  the 
more  fanciful  and  extreme,  the  more  highly  relished.     We  fail 
therefore  to  derive  any  knowledge  of  her  origin  from  this  term. 
We  have  dwelt  upon   this   particular  thus  long,  merely  because 
commentators  have  been  so  desirous  to  find  out  a  clue  to  the  history 
of  the  poem.     Some  commentators  of  elevated  character,  suppose 
this  subject  of  their  epithalamium  to  have  been  the  daughter  of 
Pharaoh,  simply  because  she  was  black,  and  is  addressed  :  "  0 
prince's  daughter!"     Undoubtedly  she  was  the  daughter  of  some 
prince  or  king.     But  the  question  now,  is  of  what  one  ?     There  is 
no  probability  that  the  kings  of  Egypt,  nor  even  the  nobility  of 
that-  kingdom,   had  been  of  the  race    of   Ham  for  many  ages. 
Egypt  had  been  conquered  by  the  Shemites  as  early  as  the  days 
of° Abraham,  and  there  is  no  proof  that  the  descendants  of  Ham 
ever  again  ascended  the  throne  ;  although,  perhaps,  their  religion 
had  been  adopted  by  their  successors  from  motives  of  policy,  the 
great  mass  of  the  population  being  of  the  old  stock. 

In  fact,  the  mixed-blooded  races,  and  indeed  the  Shemites  of 
pure  blood,  have,  from  time  immemorial,  shown  a  disposition  to 
settle  in  Egypt.  The  Persians  and  the  Greeks  have  also,  for  a 
very  long  time,  aided  in  the  amalgamation  of  the  Egypt  of  the 
middle  ages  of  the  world. 

But  she  is  made  to  say  that  she  is  "the  rose  of  Sharon;"  as 
much  as  to  say,  the  most  excellent  of  her  country.  This  district 
of  country  will  be  found  to  embrace  the  Ammonites,  and  perhaps 
some  other  of  the  ancient  tribes  of  the  family  of  Ham,  at  that 
time  under  the  government  of  Solomon.  And,  iv.  8,  we  find 
Sharon  called  by  its  Ammonitish  name,  amid  a  cluster  of 
figures  having  relation  to  the  locality  and  productions  of  that 
country. 

In  short,  the  whole  body  of  this  extraordinary  poem  points  to 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  477 

the  region  of  the  Ammonites  for  her  native  place  of  abode.     Now 
race  bolomon  had  an  Ammonitess  by  the  name  of  Naamah  for  a 
wife,  and  smce  he  selected  her  son  to  succeed  him  on  the  throne 
eems  at  least  quite  probable  she  was  the  person  it  commemo 
rates;  and  that  fact  will  make  quite  intelligible  the  allusion  to  he- 
.haying  been  elevated  from  a  servile  condition.    But,  nevertheless 
shall   be  thought  not  sufficiently  'proved-  that  she  was  the 
lother  of  Rehoboam,  yet  she  surely  was  of  some  one  of  the  Ca- 
naamtish  or  Hamitio  tribes,  and  was  as  surely  black;  and  so  far  is 
m-air,  *  proof  that  the  descendants  of  Ham  generally  were  black 

There  are  incidents  of  this  poem  which  it  would  seem  cannot 

explained  on  other  ground  than  that  this  marriage  was  one  of 

state  policy  on  the  part  of  Solomon;  and  the  queen  upon  thi, 

occasion  selected  was  from  some  one  of  the  heathen  nations  of  the 

descendants  of  Ham,  whom  he  had  subjected  to  his  government. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  these  nations,  whom  the  Israelites  had 

1  to  destroy,  had  omitted  no  occasion  to  make  war  on  the  He 

brews,  from  the  time  of  Joshua  down  to  that  of  David;  and  that 

they  occasionally  had  them  in  subjection. 

Solomon  had  no  guarantee  how  long  his  rule  over  them  would 

°r,r!ar  th<?y  WOUW  yieW  °bedienoe  to  his  ""cces- 
could  induce  him  to  marry  an  Ammonite  princess,  and 
place  her  son  upon  h,s  throne,  if  not  to  effect  this  purpose  ?  Eve,, 
at  the  t,me  f  a  ia]s  a  reference  to  th.g  po];tica/un.on 

1  find  a  p,       m  the  songs  to  wh.ch  .t  b.rth  6 

sTx  h  s±in      ;r  t0  ^^  ^  allud6  :  We  S6leCt  the  close  of  ft* 
This  poem  is  written  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue 
mostly  between  the  bride  and  groom. 

J^»o,     Return,  return,  0  Shulamite;  return,  return,  that  we  may  loot  upws 

Naamah.     What  will  ye  see  in  the  Shulamite  ? 

»o».     As  it  were  the  company  of  two  armies. 

This  surely  needs  no  comment.     The  poem  had  already  recited 
every  men  al  and  personal  quality;  was  it  then  unnatural  deli 
cately  to  allude  to  her  political  importance  ?     The  art  of  the  poet 
however,  to  cover  the  allusion,  recommences  a  view  of  her  per' 
sonal  charms,  changes  his  order,  and  commences  with  her  feet 
Much  learning  has  come  to  many  untenable  conclusions  con- 

be 


sor 


478  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


LESSON  XIV. 

WE  have  heretofore  noticed  how,  in  2  Ohron.  xvi.  8,  the  name 
Phut  is  lost  in  that  of  Lubim,  as  accounted  for  by  Josephus.  But 
it  should  be  recollected  that  the  prophet  Hanani  most  distinctly 
refers  to  one  of  the  wars  between  the  black  tribes  and  the  Jewish 
people,  of  which  there  had  been  a  long  series  from  the  exodus 
down. 

We  propose  to  adduce  an  argument  from  the  language  used  in 
the  description  of  these  wars. 

In  the  time  of  King  Asa,  the  invading  army  is  described  thus : 
"  And  there  came  out  against  them  Zerah,  the  Ethiopian,  with  a 
host  of  a  thousand  thousand  and  three  hundred  chariots.  And 
Asa  cried  unto  the  Lord  his  God ;  so  the  Lord  smote  the  Ethio 
pians  before  Asa,  and  before  Judah,  and  the  Ethiopians  fled :  and 
Asa,  and  the  people  that  were  with  him,  pursued  them  unto 
Gerar,  and  the  Ethiopians  were  overthrown."  These  people  the 
prophet  calls  Ethiopians  and  Lubims,  This  term  proves  that 
many  of  them  were  from  Lybia.  Now  is  it  to  be  presumed  that 
so  vast  an  army,  one  million  of  men  and  three  hundred  chariots, 
was  not  composed  of  all  the  tribes  between  the  remotest  location 
of  any  named  and  the  place  of  attack  ? 

But  this  battle  was  commenced  in  the  valley  of  Zephathah,  in 
Philistia,  and  pursued  to  Gerar,  a  city  of  the  same  country. 
"And  they  smote  all  the  cities  round  about  Gerar.  For  the  fear 
of  the  Lord  came  upon  them,  and  they  spoiled  all  the  cities,  for 
there  was  exceeding  much  spoil  in  them.  They  smote  all  the 
tents  of  cattle,  and  carried  away  sheep  and  camels  in  abundance, 
and  returned  to  Jerusalem."  See  2  Chron.  xiv.  14,  15. 

These  facts  could  not  have  existed  had  not  the  Philistines  com 
posed  a  part  of  the  army. 

Yet  they  are  all  Ethiopians.  Is  this  no  evidence  that  the  tribes 
of  Ham  generally  were  black  ? 

But  again,  with  the  view  to  arrive  at  a  greater  certainty  as  to 
what  races  did  compose  these  armies,  we  propose  to  examine  that 
which  invaded  Jerusalem  during  the  reign  of  Rehoboam. 

"  And  it  came  to  pass  when  Rehoboam  had  established  the  king- 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  479 

dom   and  had  strengthened  himself,  he  forsook   the  law  of  the 

rd,  and  all  Israel  with  him;  and  it  came  to  pass  in  the  fifth 
year  Of  Kl      Eehob          Sh^  of  came 

Jerusalem,  because  they  had  transgressed  against  the  Lord  with 
twelve  hundred  chanots  and  threescore  thousand  horsemen  and 
the  people  were  without  number  that  came  with  him  out  of  Egypt, 
the  Lub.ms,  the  Sukkims,  and  the  Ethiopians;  and  he  took  the 
fenced  cities  winch  pertain  to  Judah,  and  came  to  Jerusalem." 
Ohron.  xu.  l-io.  "And  the  people  were  withoutnumber  that  came 

°  Sukkims' 


«         n    u  '  '  e         °- 

The  Hebrew  construction  of  the  latter  clause  of  this  is 

thus:  :DT^  D,,?p  Qyb  DnV£Q  Mm.n} 
SMtoto  ve  Oushim.     We  suggest  a  slight  error  in  the  transla- 
tion  of  these  words.     The  prefix  O  mem  preceding  Mitsraiu,  we 
read  a  preposu-on   out  of  ,  from,  &c.,  influencing  anl  governing  th 
^following  words  also  ;  *a,from  Egypt,  fromLylia,  from  Smooth. 
be  noticed  that  CusUm  is  preceded  by  the  prefix  !  vav. 
Grammanans  have  written  much  upon   this  particle  :  we  cannot 
enter  into  an  argument  on  Hebrew  grammar,  but,  with  all  the 
learnmg  that  has   been  expended  on  this  panicle   the  Hebrew 
scholar  must  find  the  fact  to  be,  that  it  is  sometimes  used  to  £ 
S.gnateamMft;  and  we  take  occasion  here  to  say  that   in 
opinion  Professor  Gibbs  has  given  a  more  definite  and  phiSophica 
descnptlon  of  the  Hebrew  use  of  this  particle,  than  any  TXCO 
grapher  of  modern  research. 

Suppose  an  ancient  Hebrew  physician  wished  to  teach  that  cer 
tain  diseases  were  incurable,  that  they  ended  in  death 
not  have  said, 


,     a       ey  ene     in  death  mi        he 

not  have  said,  ^  *U*  nij^  H^D  nM  *£$£ 
kaddaUah    amsh   vemuth,~from    consumption,   burning  fever 
tie  mortal  newness,  termination  is  death  f  Or,  alloC  our  Helew  no] 

±"  «  Thtl:111'  he-r  have  expressed  the  ^  »« 

c  - 


the  t 


the  preceding  nouns.  If  it  had  been  used  here  as  a~co~nnec7ve 
particle,  then  the  two  preceding  nouns  would  also  have  had  i  for 
a  prefix.  Such  was  the  Hebrew  idiom.  It  would  then  have  ead 


480  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


'•  And  the  people  were,"  &c.,  from  Egypt,  and  from  Lybia,  and 
from  the  Nomads,  and  from  Ethiopia,  as  the  translator  seems  to 
have  supposed.  But,  as  it  is,  it  determines  them  all  to  have  been 
Ethiopians.  This  will  be  in  strict  conformity  with  the  description 
of  the  army  at  the  time  of  Asa.  The  invading  army,  at  that  time, 
was  denominated  Ethiopian,  although  it  is  evident  that  many  of 
the  Hamitic  tribes  composed  it. 

The  real  cause  of  all  these  wars  was  the  contest  whether  Pales 
tine  should  be  held  by  the  Hamitic  race,  or  by  the  Shemitic,  who 
were  bearing  rule.  Keeping  this  in  mind,  let  us  note  how  per 
fectly  natural  is  this  description  of  those  who  composed  the  army 
under  Shishak.  The  troops  first  collected  would  be  from  among 
his  own  immediate  people,  the  Egyptians.  The  next,  those  who 
lived  beyond  him  from  the  point  of  attack,  to  wit,  the  Lubims, 
who  lived  to  the  west  of  Egypt.  These  being  collected  together, 
they  would  commence  their  march,  and  the  Nomads  be  added  to 
the  list  of  the  army  after  they  joined  it ;  but  none  other  than  those 
governed  by  the  same  impulses  would  attach  themselves  to  it.  Suffer 
us  to  illustrate  this  description  of  Shishak's  army  by  supposing  a 
somewhat  analogous  case,  in  much  more  modern  times  : — That 
during  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  King  Philip  of  Spain  had  made 
war  on  England,  upon  the  issue  of  whether  the  Protestant  or 
Catholic  faith  should  prevail  in  that  country.  Philip  would  have 
first  collected  troops  in  Spain.  He  may  be  supposed  to  collect 
large  numbers  in  Portugal.  These  Spanish  and  Portuguese  troops 
may  be  supposed  to  march  through  France,  and  his  army  vastly 
increased  there ;  and,  when  upon  the  coast  of  England,  some  Frois- 
sart  would  have  said,  that  the  people  who  came  with  Philip  were 
without  number,  Spaniards,  Portuguese,  French,  all  Catholics. 
The  manner  of  such  description  would  be  in  exact  similitude  with 
this  description  of  Shishak's  army.  Any  one  who  is  acquainted 
with  the  history  of  the  Crusades  will  readily  see  how  a  similar 
description  would  have  in  truth  fitted  the  army  of  the  Cross.  Wo 
think  it  proof  conclusive  that  the  descendants  of  Ham  were  black. 
But  we  might  add  some  proof  from  sketches  of  profane  history. 
In  the  22d  section  of  Euterpe,  Herodotus  says  that  the  natives  on 
the  Nile  are  universally  black.  In  the  32d  section,  giving  an  ac 
count  of  a  party  of  Neesamonians,  who  in  Africa  were  out  upon  an 
excursion,  he  says — "While  they  were  thus  employed,  seven  men, 
of  dwarfish  stature,  came  where  they  were,  seized  their  persons, 
and  carried  them  away.  They  were  mutually  ignorant  of  each 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  431 


others'  language.  But  the  Neesamonians  were  conducted  over 
marshy  grounds  to  a  city,  in  which  all  the  inhabitants  were  of 
diminutive  appearance  and  of  a  black  colour." 

In  the  57th  section,  he  gives  an  account  of  an  Egyptian  priestess 
•vho  was  brought  among  the  Threspoti.  He  says  that  "the  cir 
cumstance  of  her  being  black  explains  to  us  her  Egyptian  origin." 

In  the  104th  section,  he  says — "  The  Cholchians  certainly  appear 
to  be  of  Egyptian  origin,  which  indeed,  before  I  had  conversed  with 
any  one  on  the  subject,  I  had  always  believed.  But  as  I  was  de 
sirous  of  being  satisfied,  I  interrogated  the  people  of  both  coun 
tries.  The  result  was,  that  the  Cholchians  seemed  to  have  a  better 
remembrance  of  the  Egyptians,  than  the  Egyptians  of  the  Chol 
chians.  The  Egyptians  were  of  the  opinion  that  the  Cholchians 
were  descended  of  a  part  of  the  troops  of  Sesostris :  to  this  I  my 
self  was  also  inclined,  because  they  are  black,  and  have  their  hair 
short  and  curling." 

Cambyses  fought  the  black  tribes  of  Egypt  and  Africa  under 
Amasis,  in  the  western  parts  of  Arabia.  Herodotus  says,  (Thalia, 
section  12th,)  "  The  bones  of  those  who  fell  in  the  engagement 
were  soon  afterwards  collected,  and  separated  into  two  distinct 
heaps.  It  was  observed  of  the  Persians,  that  their  heads  were  so 
extremely  soft  as  to  yield  to  the  slight  impression  even  of  a  pebble. 
Those  of  the  Egyptians,  on  the  contrary,  were  so  firm  that  the 
blow  of  a  large  stone  could  hardly  break  them.  *  *  *  I  saw 
the  very  same  fact  at  Papremis,  after  examining  the  bones  of 
those  who,  under  the  conduct  of  Achsemenes,  son  of  Darius,  were 
defeated  by  Inaius  the  African." 

Herodotus  notices  the  distinction  between  the  Arabs  and  the 
Negroes,  but  calls  them  all  Ethiopians.  In  the  70th  section  of 
Polymnia,  he  says — "  Those  Ethiopians  who  came  from  the  most 
eastern  part  of  their  country,  served  with  the  ladians.  These 
differed  from  the  former  in  nothing  but  their  language  and  their 
hair.  The  Oriental  Ethiopians  have  their  hair  straight :  those  of 
Africa  have  their  hair  more  crisp  and  curling  than  other  men." 

Herodotus  lived  and  wrote  about  five  hundred  years  before  our 
era.  We  have  quoted  him  through  a  translation,  but  not  without 
examining  the  original. 

We  shall  close  our  evidence  on  this  point  with  a  single  quotation 
from  Judg.  iii.  8  and  10.  The  children  of  Israel  intermarried  with 
the  Canaanites :  the  writer  says,  "  Therefore  the  anger  of  the 
Lord  was  hot  against  Israel,  and  he  sold  them  into  the  hand  of 

31 


482  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

Chusan  rishathaim,"  the  wicked  Ethiopians.  Whereas  it  is  as 
well  known  as  any  other  fact  of  biblical  history,  that  these  "  wicked 
Ethiopians'  were  none  other  than  the  Philistines  and  other  abori 
ginal  tribes  of  the  land  of  Canaan. 

Upon  the  conquest  of  Palestine  by  the  Israelites,  portions  of 
the  Canaanites  overspread  the  approachable  parts  of  Africa,  where 
numerous  hordes  of  their  race  were  already  in  possession.  For 
ages,  there  is  said  to  have  stood  near  Tangier,  a  monument  with 
inscriptions  signifying  that  it  was  built  in  commemoration  of  the 
people  who  fled  from  the  face  of  Joshua  the  robber.  From  the  pre 
sumption  of  this  being  a  fact,  and  from  a  collection  of  other  facts 
connected  with  early  commerce,  Moore,  in  the  first  volume  of  his 
History  of  Ireland,  has  strongly  suggested  that  the  ancient  Irish 
are  partially  indebted  to  the  ancient  Canaanites  for  their  origin ; 
whereas  we  think  we  have  sufficiently  proved  that  they  were  black. 
We  hope  the  impulsive  sons  of  the  Emerald  Isle  will  repel  the  insult. 
But,  if  what  Moore  says  be  true,  it  only  proves  another  portion 
of  our  theory ;  for,  as  sin  sinks  to  all  moral  and  physical  degra 
dation  and  slavery,  so  virtue  and  holiness  elevate  to  freedom  and 
all  animal  and  mental  perfections ;  and  since  lern  was  for  ages 
regarded  as  an  island  of  saints,  Moore  may  have  the  benefit  of  the 
argument,  if  he  chooses,  whereby  to  account  for  the  high-toned 
feeling  and  personal  perfections  of  the  modern  Irish. 

In  conclusion,  from  the  history  of  the  family  of  man,  we  may 
all  know  that  the  descendants  of  Japheth  and  Shem,  when  free  from 
amalgamation  with  the  black  tribes,  are  white  people.  Unless 
then  the  descendants  of  Ham  were  black,  how  are  we  to  account 
for  the  phenomena  of  the  existence  of  that  colour  among  men  ? 
Philosophy  has  been  in  search,  and  history  has  been  on  the  watch  ; 
facts  upon  facts  have  been  recorded  touching  every  matter ;  but 
have  you  ever  heard  of  the  uncontaminated  descendants  of  Japheth, 
living  in  the  extreme,  or  in  the  central  zone,  exhibiting  the  woolly 
crown  of  the  sons  of  Ham  ? 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  483 


LESSON  XV. 

WE  suggest  some  origin,  some  complexion  of  thought,  from 
whence  may  have  emanated  the  word  "  Ham,"  and  its  derivatives, 
as  found  to  have  existed  in  the  days  of  the  prophets  ;  and  we  may 
here  state  that  the  Shemitic  languages  seem  to  exist  all  in  a  clus 
ter,  like  so  many  grapes ;  nor  are  we  able  to  say  which  stands 
nearest  the  vine.  Doubts  may  be  raised  as  to  the  priority  of  any 
one  named ;  yet  we  might  adduce  some  proof  that  the  Coptic  is 

younger,  as  we  could  that  the  Greek  is  younger  still. 

P 
The  Arabic  word  Lx>  ma  corresponds  with  the  Syriac  ]io   ma, 

and  the  Hebrew  TO  mah,  and  has  been  translated  into  the  Latin 
quid,  as  an  interrogatory,  used  in  all  languages  very  elliptically. 
Thus,  Cf-en.iv.lQ:  JVB>J£  TO  "  What  have  you  done?"  If  the 
rvt?#  had  been  omitted,  the  TO  would  have  expressed  the  whole 

idea. 

It  was  an  interrogatory  expression  of  exclamation  and  astonish 
ment,  to  one  who  had  committed  a  heinous  offence.  So  when  Laban 
pursued,  Jacob  said,  TO  mah,  What  is  my  trespass  ?  &c.,  as  if  in 
derision, —  What  is  my  horrid  crime?  Ever  since  the  days  of  Cain 
some  have  manifested  wicked  acts,  as  though  they  were  operated 
on  by  some  strong  desire,  some  coveting  overwhelming  to  reason,— 
as  if  the  action  was  in  total  disregard  of  the  consequences  that 
must  follow  it.  This  state  of  mind  seems  to  have  been  expressed,  in 
some  measure,  by  the  particular  use  of  this  particle.  Let  us  con 
ceive  that  such  a  state  of  mind  must  be  a  heated,  a  disturbed  state 
of  mind,  as  was  that  of  Cain,  and  as  must  have  been  that  of  Jacob, 
had  he  stolen  the  goods  of  Laban.  The  word  thus  incidentally 
expressive  of  such  an  idea,  by  being  preceded  or  influenced  by  a 
particle  implying  particularity,  giving  it  definiteness  and  boundary, 
must  necessarily  be  converted  into  an  action  or  actor,  implying 
some  portion  of  the  primitive  idea;  and  hence  we  find  HSH 

and  *A  and  (f+&  ham  and  hami  in  Arabic,  ^x**  ham  in  Syriac, 
to  mean  a  cognate  idea,  i.  e.  to  grow  hot,  &c.,  to  boil,  rage,  &c., 
sometimes  tumult,  &c.,  &c.  And  we  now  ask,  these  being  facts,  is 


484  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

it  difficult  to  point  in  the  direction  of  the  origin  of  the  word  Ham  ? 
Nor  is  it  a  matter  of  any  importance,  if  the  relationship  exists, 
whether  the  noun  and  verb  have  descended  from  such  exclamatory 
particle,  or  the  reverse ;  yet  we  can  easily  imagine,  in  the  early 
condition  of  things,  that  the  mind,  taking  congnisance  of  some 
horrid  act,  would  impel  some  such  exclamation,  and  that  it  would 
become  the  progenitor  of  the  name  of  the  act  or  actor. 

However  this  may  be,  each  Hebrew  scholar  will  inform  us  that 
the  word  DH  is  an  irregular  Hebrew  word.  Grammarians  have 
usually  arranged  words  of  this  peculiar  class  among  the  Heemanti 
and  augmented  words,  and  they  have  accurately  noticed  that  the 
punctuatists  have  always  preceded  the  D  mem  by  a  (T)  Kamets, 
or  a  ( 1 )  Kholem.  This  circumstance  has  induced  Hiller  to  sup 
pose  that  the  JD  mem,  as  a  Heemanti,  was  a  particle,  while  the  ad 
junct  was  either  DH  or  DTK ;  but  all  agree  that  the  form  of  these 
nouns  shows  that  they  are  intensive  in  their  signification. 

If  then  DH  ham  is  a  particle  of  HOH  hamah,  which  carries 
with  it  the  ideas  before  named,  it  may  be  less  difficult  to  conceive 
how  the  particle,  when  added  to  other  nouns,  will  make  them  in 
tensive  also,  while  the  particle  itself  would  be  used  alone  to  ex 
press  some  intensity  in  an  emphatic  manner,  more  particularly  of 
its  root. 

But  we  find  the  word  DH  ham,  as  applied  to  the  son  of  Noah, 
from  the  root  H/SH  hammah,  or  HDH  hhma,  of  cognate  meaning, 
and  used  in  Hebrew  thus :  In  Josh.  ix.  12,  "This  our  bread  we 
took  hot  OH  for  our  provision,"  &c.  Job  xxxvii.  17,  and  vi.  17: 
"  How  thy  garments  warm  (D'EH  hammin,  hot)  when  he  quieteth 
the  earth  by  the  south  wind."  "What  time  they  wax  warm,  they 
vanish  when  it  is  hot,"  1&rn  behummo,  in  the  heat.  So  Cf-en. 
viii.  22 :  "  While  the  earth  remaineth,  seed-time  and  harvest,  cold 
and  heat  DPP,  and  summer  and  winter,  and  day  and  night,  shall 
not  cease."  Gren.  xviii.  1 :  "  And  he  sat  in  the  tent  door  in  the  heat 
Dri?  of  the  day."  1  Sam.  xi.  9-11 :  "  To-morrow,  by  the  time  the 
sunis  hot,  (DH?  be  horn,  in  heat.)  And  slew  the  Ammonites  until  the 
heat  of  the  day,"  DHl^  ad  horn,  until  the  hot.  xxi.  7  (the  6th  of 
the  English  text) :  "To  put  hot,  DH  hot  in  the  day,"  &c.  2  Sam. 
iv.  5:  "  And  came  about  the  heat  of  the  day,"  DH3  he  horn,  at  the 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  485 

hot.  Isa.  xviii.  4:  "Like  a  clear  heat  Dflp  upon  herbs,  and  like 
a  cloud  of  d«w  in  the  heat  DPD  of  harvest."  Hag.  i.  6  :  "Ye 
clothe  you,  but  there  is  none  warm,"  Qfl7  be  horn,  not  hot.  Jer. 
li.  39  :  "In  their  heats,"  D&D3  be  hummon,  in  their  heats,  &c. 

But  in  Hebrew,  as  in  some  other  languages,  the  phonetic  power 
expressing  the  idea  hot,  heat,  &c.  was  cognate  with  rage,  stubborn 
ness,  anger,  wickedness,  &c.  &c.,  and  hence  we  say  hell  is  hot, 
and  hence,  in  Dan.  iii.  13,  19:  "Then  Nebuchadnezzar  in  his  rage," 

Npn  hama,  heat,  hot.  "  Therefore  shall  he  go  forth  with  great 
fury,"  KQH3  be  hama,  heat,  rage,  fury,  &c. 

Should  it  be  said,  the  words  in  their  declination,  or  rather  the 
affixed  and  suffix,ed  particles,  differ,  and  are  marked  with  different 
vowel  points,  we  answer  by  quoting  Lee's  Heb.  Lex.  p.  205  :  "  This 
variety  in  the  vowels  may  be  ascribed  either  to  the  punctuatists  or 
the  copyists,  and  is  of  no  moment.  But  as  the  word  DP?  ham 
was  thus  applied  in  Hebrew  to  the  original  idea  of  active  caloric, 
as  emanating  from  the  sun,  so  it  will  agree  with  its  homophone  in 
Arabic  and  Syriac  ;  for  let  it  be  noticed,  that  the  Arabic  word 

& 

*£*•  ham  or  haman,  means  to  be  hot,  as  of  the  sun.     So  the  Syriac 


hama  means  oestus,  color,  &c.  But  in  Deut.  xxxii.  i;4, 
33,  it  is  translated  poison;  thus,  poison  of  serpents,  and  'the 
poison  of  dragons,'  from  the  notion  that  great  heat,  rage,  anger, 
&c.  are  cognate  with  poison." 

This  word  occurs  in  Zeph.  ii.  12.     The  received  version  is,  "  Ye 
Ethiopians  also,  ye  shall  be  slain  by  my  sword."    The  original  is, 

njjpn  *37H  V/D  D'£*D  D.hN"D^,  and  has  been  subject  to  much 
investigation.  Gesenius  considers  the  word  n^DIl  a  pronoun  in 
the  second  person,  and  Lee  seems  to  side  with  him,  but  says, 
"  the  truth  is,  the  place  is  inverted  and  abrupt,  and  should  read 

thus:  HDH  D'B*D  >3*)n  'S^PT  D^N'D^"  and  which  he  trans 
lates  thus  —  "  Even  ye  (are)  (the)  wounded  of  my  sivord,  —  they  are 
Oushites."  We  do  not  perceive  how  he  has  made  the  passage  more 
plain.  Let  us,  for  a  moment,  examine  how  the  Hebrews  used  this 
form  n*jn  or  DH,  that  we  may  the  better  comprehend  its  sense 
in  the  present  instance.  Jer.  v.  22  :  "  Though  they  roar,"  ID  HI 
ve  hamu,  rage,  &c.,  "yet  can  they  not  pass  over  it!"  vi.  23: 


486  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

"  Their  voice  roareth  like  the  sea,"  np«T  rageth,  &c.  xxxi.  85  : 
"Wnich  divideth  the  sea,  when  the  waves  thereof  roar," 
my  ye,  hemen,  rage,  &c.  li.  15 :  "  When  her  waves  do  roar 
ve  hamu  se,  rage,  &c.)  like  great  waters."  Isa.  li.  13 :  "But  I  am 
the.. Lord  thy  God  that  divided  the  sea,  whose  waves  roared," 
raged,  li.  13  :  "Because  of  the  fury  (HOn  rage,  &c.)  of  the  op 
pressor,"  "and  where  is  the  fury  (H-pH.  hamath,  rage,  &c.)  of  the  op 
pressor  ?^ ,  li.  15  :  "  whose  waves  roared,"  'lO.jT'l  raged,  &c.  Ps. 
xlvi.  4  (the  3d  of  the  English  text):  "  Though  the  waters  there 
of  roar  (1011*  ro^e,  &c.)  and  be  troubled,"  Hpf}*.  9reat  agita 
tion,  rage,  &c. 

But  let  us  take  a  more  particular  view  of  this  word,  as  used  in 
the  passage  from  Zephaniah.  The  Septuagint  has  translated  this 
passage  in  Kcci  v[iei$  AlOloneg  ^av^iartai  f)op<paia$  [j.ov  £<m, 
which  is  very  much  like  our  received  version. 

But  it  should  be  noticed  that  it  has  translated  the  Hebrew  word 

V?7  ft  into  fpavfiaflai;  Vpav^a  would  imply  the  injury,  wounds, 
carnage,  or  slaughter  of  a  whole  nation,  army,  or  body  of  people  ; 
but  <rpat> partial  implies  individuality,  and  reaches  no  farther  than 
the  person  or  persons  named.  The  prophet  had  been  uttering  de 
nunciations  against  many  nations,  but  in  this  passage  emphatically 
selects  the  Ethiopians  as  individuals ;  and  the  Greek  translator 
evidently  discovered  there  was  in  this  denunciation  something  pe 
culiarly  personal  as  applied  to  the  Ethiopians. 

The  Hebrew  conveys  the  idea  of  reducing,  subjecting,  or  bring 
ing  low,  as  by  force,  to  cause  to  sink  in  character ;  as  in  Ps. 
Ixxxix.  40  (39th  of  the  English  text) :  "  Thou  hast  made  void  the 

covenant  of  thy  servant :  thou  hast  fi^H  wounded,  subjected,  or 
reduced  his  crown  to  the  earth."  Ezek.  xxii.  26:  "Her  priests 
have  violated  my  law,  and  have  *l  7  7H  (wounded,  subjected,  lowered 
the  character  of)  my  holy  things." 

But  the  word  '77(1  is  here  used  in  -the  construct  state,  show 
ing  that  the  idea  imposed  by  this  word  was  brought  about  by  the  fol 
lowing  term,  '3*)D?  which  the  Septuagint  translates  po^omg, 
which  properly  means  the  Thracian  spear ;  but  ^31(1  means  any 
weapon,  a  goad  harpoon  as  well  as  a  sword.  The  fact  is,  neither 
of  these  words  were  the  usual  Hebrew  or  Greek  term  to  mean  a 
sword.  The  Greeks  would  have  called  a  sword 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  487 


and  the  Hebrews  fVjn  or  £Pn  or  f  113,  or  perhaps  ("Ob*;  and 
Dr.  Lee  has  given  ('Ap7t>7  as  the  Greek  translation  of  '5"}D,  which 
means  a  sickle,  a  goad  for  driving  elephants,  &c.  It  was  a  thing 
to  inflict  wounds  by  which  to  enforce  subjection,  and  the  idea  is 
that  the  Ethiopians  are  covered  by  wounds  by  their  being  reduced 
by  it,  or  that  they  shall  be.  When  Jeremiah  announced  captivity 
and  slavery  to  the  Egyptians  and  the  adjacent  tribes,  he  used  this 
word  as  the  instrument  of  its  execution.  Thus  Jer.  xliv.  14  :  "  De 
clare  ye  in  Egypt,  and  publish  in  Migdol,  and  publish  in  Noph, 
and  in  Taphanhes ;  say  ye,  Stand  fast,  and  prepare  thee,  for  the 
sifford  D*in  shall  devour  round  about  thee."  16 :  "  Arise  and 
let  us  go  again  to  our  own  people,  and  to  the  land  of  our  nativity, 
from  the  oppressing  sword,"  3">n.  Many  such  instances  might 
be  cited,  showing  the  fact  that,  in  poetic  strain,  this  was  the  in 
strument  usually  named,  as  in  the  hand  of  him  subjecting  others 
to  bondage ;  and  much  in  the  same  manner,  even  at  this  day,  we 
use  the  term  "whip,"  in  the  hand  of  the  master,  in  reference  to 
the  enforcement  of  his  authority  over  his  slave. 

In  a  further  view  of  the  word  H^H,  as  used  in  this  passage,  we 
deem  it  proper  to  state  that  Gibbs  considers  it  a  pronoun  of  the  third 
person  plural,  masculine,  they,  and  adds,  "  sometimes"  (probably 
an  incorrectness  drawn  from  the  language  of  common  life)  "used 
in  reference  to  women,"  and  quotes  Zech.  v.  10  ;  Cant.  vi.  8;  Ruth 
i.  22.  And  he  further  adds,  "  It  is  used  for  the  substantive  verb  in 
the  third  person  plural,  1  Kings  viii.  40,  ix.  20;  G-en.  xxv.  16; 
also  for  the  substantive  verb  in 'the  second  person,  Zeph.  ii.  12  : 
'Also,  ye  Cushites  n£H  ^"]tl  \77fi  shall  be  slain  by  my  sword."'' 
G-ibbss  Lex.  p.  175.  In  Stuart's  Grammar,  p.  193,  he  says, 
"  Personal  pronouns  of  the 'third  person  sometimes  stand  simply 
in  the  place, of ';  the  verb  of \ existence  ;"  e.  g.  he  cites  G-en.  ix.  3, 
Zech.  i.  9,  and  says,  "  Plainer  still  is  the  principle  in  such  cases, 
as  follows:  Zeph.  ii.  12,  'Ye  Cushites,  victims  of  my  sword 
nan  DHN  are  ye.'" 

The  fact  is,  the  verb  of  existence,  called  the  verb  "to  be,"  and 
the  verb  substantive,  in  Hebrew,  as  in  all  other  languages,  is  often 
not  expressed,  but  understood.  This  circumstance  is  well  explained 
in  Gessenius'  Hebrew  Grammar,  revised  by  Rodiger,  and  trans 
lated  by  Conant,  p.  225,  thus,  "  When  a  personal  pronoun  is 
the  subject  of  a  sentence,  like  a  noun  in  the  same  position,  it 
does  not  require  for  its  union  with  the  predicate  a  distinct  word 


488  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


for  the  copula,  when  this  consists  simply  in  the  verb  'to  be,' 
ilNin  'DJN  'I (am)  the  seer,'  1  Sam.  ix.  19."  And  again  :  "  The 
pronoun  of  the  third  person  frequently  serves  to  convert  the 
subject  and  predicate,  and  is  then  a  sort  of  substitute  for  the 
copula  of  the  verb  to  be,  e.  g.  Gen.  xli.  26  :  <  The  seven  good  cows, 
run  DW  JDt?  seven  years  (are)  they.11'1  To  say  in  English, 
"  The  seven  good  cows,  seven  years  they,"  would  be  thought  too 
elliptical ;  but  we  do  not  perceive  how  the  expression  converts 
"they"  into  the  verb  "  to  be." 

But  again,  the  same  author  says,  p.  261 :  "  The  union  of  the  sub 
stantive  or  pronoun,  which  forms  the  subject  of  the  sentence,  with 
another  substantive  or  adjective,  as  its  predicate,  is  most  commonly 
expressed  by  simply  writing  them  together  without  any  copula. 
1  Kings  xviu.  21:  b'liStJjfJ  illiT  'Jehovah  (is)  the  true  God." 
The  idiom  of  the  language  'then  does  not  necessarily  convert  ntpH 
in  the  passage  before  us  into  the  verb  ^to  be."  And  here  let 
us  repeat  the  sentence,  H^H  'Tin  ^H  D'b*G  DfiX'DJ 
Zeph.  ii.  12.  It  will  be  perceived  that  DflX"D£  are  connected  by 
Makkaph.  Hebrew  scholars  do  not  agree  as  to  how  far  this  cha 
racter  is  effective  as  an  accent.  But  the  rules  for  its  use  are— 
"Makkaph  is  inserted  in  the  following  cases:  1.  Particles, 
which,  from  their  nature,  can  never  have  any  distinctive  accent, 
are  mostly  connected  with  other  words  by  the  mark  Makkaph : 
ng^NS'DJ  even  to  her  husband;  OD^'DH?  in  the  integrity  of 
my  heart.  ~G-en.  xx.  5,  &c.  2.  When  words  are  to  be  construed 
together,  &c.,  as  ID"  ilHt  its  seed  (is)  within  itself.  Gen.  i.  11,"  &c. 

— Lee  s  Lectures,  p.  61. 

But  Stuart,  seeing  no  way  to  translate  the  sentence  without 
making  nSH  the  verb  "to  be,"  3d  person  plural,  "are,"  takes 
DfUXt  the  personal  pronoun,  2d  person  plural,  equivalent  to  ye  or 
you',  away  from  D|,  to  which  it  is  attached  by  Makkaph,  and  car 
ries  it  down  to  precede  rUSH  in  the  sentence,  and  thus  reads  "are 
ye,"  while  he  supplies  another  DflN*  as  understood  to  precede 
QW3,  and  reads,  "ye  Cushites,  victims  of  my  sword  are  ye." 
We  consider  this  as  quite  as  objectionable  as  Dr.  Lee's— "Even  ye 
(are)  (the)  wounded  of  my  sivord,—they  are  Cushites" 

But  permit  us  now  to  inquire  into  the  probability  of  HSH  being 
even  a  pronoun.  O3N  a-no-khi  is  not  believed  to  be  a  Hebrew 
word.  It  is  a  homophone  of  the  Coptic  word  J&JIOK,  and  use(i 


STUDIES   ON  SLAVERY.  481; 

by  the  Egyptians,  who  spoke  Coptic,  as  the  personal  pronoun  I. 
This  word  is  believed  to  have  been  borrowed  by  the  Hebrews  at 
the  time  they  were  in  bondage  in  Egypt,  and  the  habit  of  it  so 
strongly  established  during  their  four  hundred  years  of  servitude, 
that  neither  the  literature  of  the  age  of  Moses  nor  the  genius  of 
the  people  could  ever  eradicate  it.  Their  original  personal  pro 
noun  was  probably  totally  lost ;  nothing  analogous  to  this  Coptic 
term  can  be  found  in  any  other  of  the  Shemitic  tongues.  But  Lee 
says  that  Gessenius  has  found  it  in  Punic,  and  quotes  Lehrege- 
baude,note,  p.  200.  In  Chaldaic,  the  personal  pronoun,  first  person 
singular,  is  rtJX  a-nah,  and  its  phonetic  cognates  are  found  in  all 
the  other  siste'r  dialects.  We  may  then  well  suggest  that  the  lost 
Hebrew  term  was  iOX  a-na,  or  quite  analogous  thereto. 

Such  then  being  the  facts,  let  us  inquire  into  the  origin,  compo 
sition,  and  signification  of  this  Coptic  pronoun.  It  will  be  agreed 
that  some  language  must  have  had  precedence  in  the  world,  and  it  is 
usually  yielded  to  the  Hebrew.  That  such  precedence  was  the  pro 
perty  of  some  one  of  the  Asiatic  dialects  all  agree  ;  and  the  nearer 
the  subsequent  language  exists  to  its  precedent,  the  more  plainly 
will  its  descent  be  manifest.  If  the  Hebrew  was  such  precedent, 
or  any  other  of  its  immediate  sisters,  the  Coptic,  existing  in  their 
immediate  neighbourhood,  must  have  been  originally  very  analogous 
to  them. 

It  is  immaterial  whether  our  suggestion  be  right  or  wrong  as  to 
what  particularly  was  the  lost  Hebrew  pronoun ;  let  us  take  the 
Chaldaic,  which,  of  all  these  dialects,  was  the  most  nearly  like  the 
Hebrew — the  personal  pronoun  J"Ufc<  I,  I  am,  and  the  word  O  ki, 
which  means  a  mark  as  a  stigma,  indelibly  fixed,  as  burned  in,  a 
mark  intended  pointedly  to  indicate  something ;  and  hence  it  became 
a  particle  attached  to  a  word  often  by  Makkaph,  whence  the  atten 
tion  was  to  be  particularly  called,  as,  mark  me,  mark  ye,  are  just, 
&c.  &c.  Isa.  iii.  24:  >$V  Hfin  >5  a  burned  mark  of  stigma,  in 
stead  of  beauty.  Some  have  doubted  the  accuracy  of  the  Hebrew 
in  this  instance,  and  the  fact  is,  no  doubt,  that  it  is  rather  an 
Arabicism  ;  but  that  in  no  way  affects  our  deduction ;  it  ir.atters 
not  whether  the  Coptic  borrowed  from  Chaldean,  Hebrew,  or 
Arabic.  These  two  words  are  beyond  question  the  origin,  the 
compound  of  the  Coptic  pronoun,  meaning  and  including  the  indi 
viduality  of  the  first  person  singular,  and  originally  expressing 
also  the  fact,  that  such  person  was  marked  as  a  stigma  indelibly, 
as  burned  in,  &c.  Anoki,  I,  a  marked  one;  I,  one  deformed  as  if 


490  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

branded,  &c.  ;  I,  one  that  carry  the  mark  of,  &c.  &c.,  was  the 
oiiginal  idea  expressed  by  this  Coptic  term  of  individuality.  Thus 
it  expressed  the  fact  that  the  person  was  a  successor  in  the  curses 
of  Ham  and  Cain,  and  in  no  other  manner  can  the  extraordinary 
appearance  of  QH  and  sometimes  PISH  in  the  third  person  of  the 
pronoun  be  accounted  for.  It  is  evidently  from  a  new  and  other 
source,  the  same  or  cognate  with  the  term  applied  to  the  son  ot" 
Noah. 

These  adjective  associations  of  the  pronoun,  through  the  lapse 
of  ages,  would  naturally  be  forgotten  by  the  Copts  themselves,  and 
were  probably  unknown  to  the  Hebrews  ;  just  as  we  ourselves  have 
forgotten  that  our  word  obedient  still  expresses  some  of  the  qualities 
of  the  Hebrew  word  13%  ebed  and  abed,  from  which  it  has  been 
derived  through  the  Latin. 

This  pronoun  *3^N  -^  ^c-  was  °ften  contracted  b^the  Hebrews 
into  'JJK  ani,  and  in  its  declination  stood  thus  : 

1st  person  singular,  common  gender  : 

sometimes  *JN     ...........................  I. 

Plural: 
....  .............................................  We. 

2d  person  singular  masculine  : 

................................................  Thou. 

Plural  : 
DJW  ................................................  You. 

vv  ~ 

Singular  feminine  : 
fltf  ................................................  Thou,  fern. 

Plural  : 
JflN   ................................................  You,  fern. 

3d  person  singular,  masculine  : 


Plural  : 
DH  hem  —  occasionally  HOH  ..................  They. 

Here  we  find  the  word  in  question,  if  a  pronoun.  The  feminine 
of  the  third  person  is  WJl,  and  plural  J"0,  and  yet  fi^H  is  used  in 
Canticles  in  a  condition  evidently  feminine  ;  and  yet  in  Zeph.  ii.  12, 
it  is  said  it  must  be  in  the  second  person  plural.  But  can  any 
one  believe  that  these  words,  thus  arranged  in  the  declination  oi 


STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY.  491 


this  pronoun,  could  ever  have  had  a  common  origin  ?  The  fact  is, 
no  original  language  was  ever  formed  from  rules  ;  the  rules  are 
merely  its  description  after  it  is  formed.  Language,  in  the  in 
fancy  of  its  formation,  resents  restraint  and  all  laws,  except  such 
as  apply  to  its  incipient  state.  Suppose  a  soldier  for  life  should 
persist  in  calling  his  infant  son  soldier,  either  playfully  or  mourn 
fully;  the  child  would  associate  the  term  "soldier"  with  his  indi 
viduality,  and  say  soldier  am  sleepy,  &c.  In  case  the  soldier's 
family  was  isolated  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  in  the  land  of  Nod, 
or  elsewhere,  then  the  family  of  languages  would  be  quite  apt  to 
have  a  new  term  as  a  personal  pronoun. 

More  pertinent  examples  would  explain  our  idea  perhaps  more 
fully.  There  never  was  a  language  upon  this  earth,  of  which  any 
thing  is  known,  that  does  not  show  an  extraordinary  irregularity 
in  the  formation  of  its  personal  pronouns, — often  giving  proof  that 
the  different  cases  and  persons  have  been  formed  from  different 
roots.  Webster  says — "  I,  the  pronoun  of  the  first  person,  the 
word  which  expresses  one's  self,  or  that  by  which  a  speaker  or 
writer  denotes  himself."  "In  the  plural,  we  use  we  and  us,  which 
appear  to  be  words  radically  distinct  from  I"  Under  we,  he  says. 
"  From  plural  of  I,  or  rather  a  different  word,  denoting,"  &c.  Does 
any  one  imagine  that  I,  you,  me,  and  iis  are  from  the  same  root  ? 
Webster  noticed  the  discrepancy ;  we  could  have  hoped  that  he 
would  have  given  the  world  a  history  of  the  personal  pronoun  of 
all  languages :  we  know  of  no  intellect  more  capable.  Such  a  his 
tory  would  develop  many  curious  things  in  the  history  of  man,  but 
would  be  attended  with  great  labour ;  and  human  life  has  too  few 
days  for  such  a  man. 

Thus  we  may,  hypothetically  at  least,  point  out  the  class  of 
operating  causes  whereby  the  Copts  introduced  DH  or  occasion 
ally  n£pn  as  a  person  of  the  pronoun,  with  the  signification  that 
the  person  to  whom  it  was  applied  was  a  descendant  of  the  son  of 
Noah;  and  the  pronoun  so  introduced  derived  from  the  noun  DPI 


Ham.  For,  can  we  suppose  the  first  person  singular  *5jK  a-no-ki, 
and  its  third  person  plural  DH  hem,  occasionally  i"TE5n  hemmah, 
have  the  same  root,  or  are  of  the  same  origin?  This  OH  and  the 
word  DH  the  son  of  Noah,  are  identical,  except  the  son  of  Noah 
is  generally  written  with  a  heth,  instead  of  a  he;  but  all  know, 
who  have  studied  the  matter,  these  characters  very  often  inter 
change,  and  that  copyists  have  often  inadvertently  placed  the 


492  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


one  for  the  other.  That  which  Avould  seem  the  pronoun  is  used  in 
Cren.  xiv.  5,  and  the  Septuagint  has  translated  it  as  a  pronoun; 
vut  our  received  version  has  no  doubt  restored  the  true  reading. 
The  passage  DH3  is  translated  "in  Ham,"  i.  e.  the  land  occupied 

rST  • 

by  the  descendants  of  Ham,  the  son  of  Noah.  The  change  of 
Kamets  into  Tsere,  is  really  of  no  moment.  These  characters 
were  never  invented  until  after  the  language  ceased  to  be  spoken, 
and  was  long  since  dead.  The  points,  in  reality,  are  no  part  of  the 
language.  The  word  in  Genesis  is  indisputably  a  noun,  preceded 
and  governed  by  the  preposition  5. 

Perhaps  no  one  has  ever  yet  succeeded  to  satisfy  himself  and 
others  in  the  translation  of  this  passage  of  Zephaniah ;  all,  or 
others  for  them,  find  it  full  of  difficulty :  but  let  us  consider  H^H 
a  noun  of  the  same  order  as  the  DH  of  xiv.  5  of  Gf-enesis, — in 
some  respect  in  apposition  to  D'^3,  but  more  emphatic,  as  the 
affix  of  H  would  seem  to  indicate,  by  its  increase  of  the  in 
tensity,  as  well  as  its  accounting  for  the  dagesli  of  the  0  mem,  or 
its  duplication.  Let  us  consider  it  to  mean  the  descendants  of 
Ham, — to  express  the  idea,  with  great  intensity,  that  the  Cushites 
were  Hamites.  True,  it  is  not  in  the  usual  form  of  a  patronymic. 
But  we  know  not  who  will  account,  by  grammatical  rules,  for  all 
the  anomalies  found  in  Hebrew,  a  language  so  full  of  ellipses 
that  some  have  thought  it  a  mere  skeleton  language.  With  this 
view  of  the  subject  it  will  read  elliptically,  thus :  So  ye  Ethiopians 
wounded  of  the  sword,  Hamites — with  the  meaning,  that  the 
Ethiopians  were  subject  to  bondage,  and  at  the  same  time  putting 
them  in  mind  that  the  curse  of  slavery,  as  to  the  posterity  of 
Ham,  was  unalterable. 

The  meaning  of  the  prophet  is — So  ye  Ethiopians,  reduced  to  a 
condition  of  bondage,  remember  ye  are  the  inheritors  of  the  curse 
of  Ham  ! 

The  arrangement  of  the  language  to  us  clearly  indicates  that 
sense.  Besides,  we  must  take  into  consideration  the  peculiar 

meaning  of  the  words  '7/11  an(^  *3"!H, — that  the  prophet  is 
writing  in  a  highly  figurative  and  poetic  strain1;  and  we  would 
also  compare  what  this  prophet  says  to  the  Ethiopians  with  what 
the  other  prophets  have  said  of  the  same  people.  D^'13  is  here 
applicable  to  all  the  tribes  of  Ham,  as  in  Amos  ix.  7:  "Are  ye 
not  as  children  of  the  Ethiopians  unto  me  ?  0  children  of  Israel, 
saith  the  Lord."  It  may  be  well  here  to  notice  also  that  the  word 


STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY.  403 

u  Ethiopian"  is  of  Greek  origin,  and  associates  with  the  idea 
blackness,  like  that  of  Ham.  Thus,  AtOto^,  Aithiops,  sun-burnt, 
swarthy  as  Ethiopians;  cuftog,  warmth,  heat,  fire,  ardent,  blazing 
like  fire,  blackened  by  fire,  black,  dark ;  aiOo^,  burning,  fiery, 
blazing,  burned,  darkened  by  fire,  dark-coloured,  consuming,  de 
stroying.  Donnegan  p.  34.  But  Isaiah  speaks  of  the  descendants 
of  Ham  perhaps  in  a  more  figurative  language,  and  in  a  more 
elevated  and  poetical  strain : 

1.  Wo  to  the  land  shadowing  with  wings, 
Which  is  beyond  the  rivers  of  Ethiopia : 

2.  That  sendeth  ambassadors  by  the  sea, 
Even  in  vessels  of  bulrushes  upon  the  waters, 

Saying,  Go,  ye  swift  messengers,  to  a  nation  scattered  and  peeled  ; 
To  a  people  terrible  from  the  beginning  hitherto  ; 
A  nation  meted  out  and  trodden  down, 

3.  Whose  land  the  rivers  have  spoiled ! 

All  ye  inhabitants  of  the  world,  and  dwellers  on  the  earth, 
See  ye,  when  he  lifteth  up  an  ensign  on  the  mountains, 
And  when  he  bloweth  a  trumpet,  hear  ye ! 

4.  For  so  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  I  will  take  my  rest, 
And  I  will  consider  in  my  dwelling-place, 

Like  a  clear  heat  upon  herbs, 

And  like  a  cloud  of  dew  in  the  heat  of  harvest. 

5.  For  afore  the  harvest,  when  the  bud  is  perfect, 
And  the  sour  grape  is  ripening  in  the  flower, 

He  shall  both  cut  off  the  sprigs  with  pruning-hooks, 
And  take  away  and  cut  down  the  branches. 

6.  They  shall  be  left  together  unto  the  fowls  of  the  mountains, 
And  to  the  beasts  of  the  earth; 

And  the  fowls  shall  summer  upon  them, 

And  the  beasts  of  the  earth  shall  winter  upon  them. 

7.  In  that  time  shall  a  present  be  brought  unto  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
Of  a  people  scattered  and  peeled, 

And  from  a  people  terrible  from  the  beginning  hitherto ; 

A  nation  meted  out  and  trodden  under  foot, 

Whose  lanjl  the  rivers  have  spoiled, 

To  the  place  of  the  name  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  Mount  Zion. 

Isa.  18. 

The  denouncements  of  Jehovah  against  the  children  of  Ham 
are  more  plainly  expressed  in  the  promises  of  God  to  these  of  the 
true  worship,  hia  peculiar  people : 


494  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


Thus  saith  the  Lord, 

The  labour  of  Egypt,  and  merchandise  of  Ethiopia, 
And  of  the  Sabeans,  men  of  stature, 
Shall  come  over  unto  thee,  and  they  shall  be  thine : 
They  shall  come  after  thee ; 
In  chains  they  shall  come  over ; 
And  they  shall  fall  down  unto  thee. 
They  shall  make  supplication  unto  thee, 
Saying,  Surely  God  is  in  thee ; 
And  there  is  none  else, 
There  is  no  God  (beside], — (or,  there  is  no  other  God.] 

Isa.  xlv.  14. 

So  Jeremiah  :  "  Declare  ye  in  Egypt,  and  publish  it  in  Migdol, 
and  publish  in  Noph  and  in  Taphanhes  ;  say  ye,  Stand  fast,  and 
prepare  thee ;  for  the  sword  shall  devour  round  about  thee. 

"  0  thou  daughter  dwelling  in  Egypt,  furnish  thyself  to  go  into 
captivity:  for  Noph  shall  be  waste  and  desolate,  without  an 
inhabitant. 

"The  daughter  of  Egypt  shall  be  confounded;  she  shall  be 
delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  people  of  the  north."  Jer.  xlvi.  1, 
19,  24. 

"And  the  sword  shall  come  upon  Egypt,  and  great  pain  shall 
be  in  Ethiopia,  when  the  slain  shall  fall  in  Egypt,  and  they  shall 
take  away  her  multitudes,  and  her  foundations  shall  be  broken 
down. 

"  Ethiopia,  and  Lybia,  and  Lydia,  and  all  the  mingled  (mixed- 
blooded)  people,  Chub  and  the  men  of  the  land  that  is  in  league, 
shall  fall  with  them  by  the  sword. 

"  In  that  day  shall  messengers  go  forth  from  me  in  ships  to 
make  the  careless  Ethiopians  afraid,  and  great  pain  shall  come 
upon  them,  as  in  the  day  of  Egypt :  for,  lo,  it  cometh. 

"  The  young  men  of  Aven  and  of  Pibeseth  shall  fall  by  the 
sword :  and  these  cities  shall  go  into  captivity. 

"  At  Taphanhes  also  the  day  shall  be  darkened,  when  I  shall 
break  there  the  yokes  of  Egypt :  and  the  pomp  of  her  strength 
shall  cease  in  her :  as  for  her,  a  cloud  shall  cover  her  ;  and  her 
daughters  shall  go  into  captivity. 

"  And  I  will  scatter  the  Egyptians  among  the  nations  and  dis 
perse  them  among  the  countries,  and  they  shall  know  that  I  am 
the  Lord."  JEzek.  xxx.  4,  5,  9,  17,  18,  26. 

"  And  I  will  sell  your  sons  and  your  daughters  into  the  hands 
of  the  children  of  Judah,  and  they  shall  sell  them  to  the  Sabeans, 
to  a  people  afar  off:  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it."  Joel  iii.  8. 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  495 

It  may  be  we  have  occupied  too  much  time,  in  remarks  too 
obscure  and  indistinct  for  biblical  criticism,  upon  this  passage  of 
Zephaniah;  and  it  may  be  that,  in  the  judgment  of  some,  we  have 
thus  made  ourselves  obnoxious  to  the  satire  of  the  reverend  and 
witty  commentator  upon  the  words  : 

"  Strange  such  difference  there  should  be 
'Twixt  tweedle-dum  and  tweedle-dee." 

But  we  were  sure  the  passage  had  been  greatly  misunderstood, 
and  were,  perhaps,  too  much  emboldened  by  the  hope,  that  the  pro 
vidence  of  the  All- wise  might  yet  again  issue  forth  the  truth  from 
the  tongue  of  the  feeble. 


LESSON  XVI. 

FROM  the  root  n^DH  has  also  been  derived  the  Arabic  word 
^^  haman,  and  the  Syriac     <fn£     haman,  and   adopted  by 


the  Hebrews  in  -the  word  fpt!  Jiaman,  which  Castell  translates 
"images,"  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  the  sun,  the  worship  of 
fire,  heat,  &c. 

The  Hebrew  use  of  this  word  will  be  found  in  a  plural  form  in 
Lev.  xxvi.  80,  thus  :  "  Arid  I  will  destroy  your  high  places,  and  cut 
down  your  images"  hammaneJcem.  2  Chron.  xiv.  3  (the  fourth 
of  the  Hebrew  text:)  "And  brake  down  the  images"  D^^D 
hammanim  ;  also  xxxiv.  4,  7:  "And  the  images,  (D'l^H  ham- 
manim)  that  were  on  high  above  them,  he  cut  down,"  "and  had 
beaten  the  graven  images  (D^ftf?  hammanim)  into  powder." 
Isa.  xvii.  8  :  "Either  the  groves  or  the  images"  D^Dfl  ham 
manim;  also  xxvii.  9  :  "  The  groves  and  images  (D^OH  hammanim) 
shall  not  stand  up."  Ezek.  vi.  4,  6  :  "  Your  altars  shall  be  desolate, 
and  your  images  (DD^ftH  hammaneJcem)  shall  be  broken,"  "and 

your  images  (DJ^Qn  hammaneJcem)  may  be  cut  down."  We 
have  no  possible  word  to  express  literally  this  term,  but  the  ham- 
maneJcenSj  or  little  HAMS,  or  fire-houses,  the  objects  of  religious 
adoration,  were  conical  towers,  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  feet 
high,  and  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  in  diameter  at  the  base,  and 


496  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

gradually  decreasing  upward,  with  a  small  door  or  opening  fifteen 
or  twenty  feet  above  the  base,  and  four  smaller  ones  near  the  apex, 
looking  towards  the  cardinal  points. 

The  moderns  have  no  certain  knowledge  of  their  particular  use, 
yet  all  believe  that  in  them  was  attempted  to  be  kept  the  perpetual 
or  holy  fire,  and  perhaps  into  them  was  thrust  the  infant  sacrificed 
to  the  god.  May  we  not  suppose  that  Daniel  and  his  brethren 
would  have  informed  us,  had  it  been  necessary  for  us  to  know 
more  ?  Spencer,  Heb.  Laws,  lib.  ii.  cap.  25,  §  3,  says  of  these 
edifices  :  "  They  were  of  a  conical  form  and  of  a  black  colour."  It 
seems  to  us  this  identifies  these  edifices  with  the  round  towers  of 
Persia  and  elsewhere,  remains  of  many  of  which  were  anciently 
found  in  Ireland.  The  curious  about  this  matter  are  referred  to 
Gesenius's  Thesaurus,  p.  489 ;  also  Lee's  Lex.  p.  297,  where  he 
quotes  Henrici  Arentii  Hamaker  Miscellanea  Phoenicia,  pp.  49,  54  ; 
also  Diatribe  Philologico-Critica  aliquot  monumentorum  Punicorum ; 
Selden,  de  Diis  Syris,  ii.  cap.  8,  and  the  authors  severally  cited  by 
them.  Upon  a  full  consideration  of  the  subject,  Dr.  Lee  says — 
"  Upon  the  whole,  I  am  disposed  to  believe  that  the  term  fDfl 
(haman)  is  rather  derived  from  Dfl  Ham,  the  father  of  Canaan, 
of  Mitsraim,  &c.,  Gf-en.  x.  6-20  ;  and  hence  by  the  Tatter  worshipped 
as  presiding  angel  of  the  sun,  under  the  title  of  "Ajtovv,  Gf-reek 
*'A^G)V  (Amman),  which  is  probably  our  very  word."  If  so,  then 
his  very  name  became  significant  of  the  worship  of  fire,  and  even 
expressive  of  the  fire-temples  themselves. 

By  some  fanciful  relation,  not  relevant  to  our  subject,  between 
the  fire  or  sun  worshippers  and  astronomy,  when  the  sun  was  in 
aries  (the  ram),  the  god  Ham,  Ammon,  Hammon,  or  Jupiter 
Hammon,  was  represented  with  a  ram's  head  for  his  crest ;  with 
this  crest  became  associated  the  idea  of  the  god,  and  hence 
chonchologists,  even  to  this  day,  call  certain  shells,  that  are  fancied 
to  resemble  the  ram's  horn,  Ammonites,  giving  further  evidence, 
even  now,  of  how  deeply  seated  was  the  association  between  the 
earlier  descendants  of  Ham  and  the  fire  worship  of  their  day. 

The  long  and  fanciful  story  of  lo,  changed  by  Jupiter  into  a 
white  cow ;  of  her  flight  from  the  fifty  sons  of  Egyptus ;  of  her 
becoming  the  progenitor  of  the  lonians ;  the  Egyptians  claiming 
her  under  the  name  of  Isis  ;  of  her  marriage  with  Osiris,  who  be 
came  at  length  Apis  and  Serapis,  worshipped  in  the  image  of  a 
black  bull  with  a  white  spot  in  his  forehead,  and  many  such  tales, 
are  all  legitimately  descended  from  his  family  peculiarities,  their 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  497 

relative  condition  in  the  world,  and  the  fact  that  Ham  became  the 
imaginary  deity  of  his  descendants. 

Much  evidence  may  be  had  proving  that  Ham  became  insepara 
bly  associated  with,  and  in  fact  the  very  father  of,  idolatry,  and  of 
all  those  enormities  growing  out  of  it ;  enormities  with  which  idol 
atry  has  ever  been  attended,  and  which  time  and  the  history  of 
man  for  ever  give  proof  to  be  a  total  preventive  of  all  physical  and 
moral  elevation  and  improvement ;  and  which,  like  other  breaches 
against  the  laws  of  God,  have,  at  all  times,  among  all  men,  for  ever 
been  accompanied  by  both  physical  and  moral  degradation.  But 
the  descendants  of  Ham  gave  his  name  to  their  country.  *V  H-£€\ 
Chemi  was  the  Coptic  name  for  Egypt,  which  the  Septuagint  trans 
lates  into  Xa^  Cham.  Plutarch  styles  Egypt  X^f'a  Chemia,  from 
the  Coptic  ^^k\jfc€\  Chemi,  and,  as  if  he  wished  to  give  some  ac 
count  of  its  origin,  adds,  Oeppi  ^ap  ittiv  xcu  I'/pa,  "  for  it  is 
hot  and  humid ;"  showing  that  the  *Vs\jt€i  Chemi  of  the  Copts 
signified  the  same  as  the  Ham  of  the  Hebrews.  But  the  Coptic 
word^V\jt€\  Chemi,  X^t  andX^e  of  Plutarch,  also  signified  the 
adjective  Hack.  See  Gibbs's  Hebrew  Lexicon,  under  the  word  DPT 
Ham;  and  with  this  signification  the  word  .Haw  is  used  in  Ps.  Ixxviii. 
51 :  "  The  chief  of  their  strength  in  the  tabernacles  of  Ham :"  Sep 
tuagint,  Xa^,  Cham,  from  the  Coptic  *^V\Jt€X  chemi,  black,  cv.  23 : 
"  And  Jacob  sojourned  in  the  land  of  Ham,"  DPI  Ham:  Septuagint, 
Xa^,  Cham,  from  the  Coptic  y^\JUt\  chemi,  black.  27:  "And 
wonders  in  the  land  of  Ham  :"  Septuagint,  Xatu,  Cham,  from  the 
Coptic  ^^VUt£\  chemi,  black,  cvi.  22 :  "  Wondrous  works  in  the 
land  of  Ham :"  Septuagint,  Xa^,  Cham,  from  the  Coptic 
chemi,  black.  The  idea  is,  the  land  of  the  black  people. 

In  this  sense  also  the  word  is  used  in  Cf-en.  xiv.  5:  "  And  smote 
the  Rephaims  in  Ashteroth  Karnaim,  and  the  Zuzims  in  Ham." 
The  Septuagint  translates  this  passage  into  Kal  sOvY]  !a%vpa 
d^a  aiVotg,  as  though  the  Di"Q  be  Ham  was  a  pronoun,  and 
which  seems  to  have  been  the  view  of  several  ancient  translators. 
But  such  certainly  was  not  the  view  of  the  translators  of  the  re 
ceived  version ;  nor  of  Martindale,  and  others  from  whom  he  com 
piled.  He  says  of  this  passage — "  2.  Ham,  crafty,  or  heat ;  the 
country  of  the  Zuzims,  the  situation  of  which  is  not  known:" 
p.  326.  We  certainly  agree  with  the  Septuagint  that  D'pt  Zuzim 
was  a  significant  term,  and  perhaps  well  enough  explained  by 

32 


498  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


io%vpd,  for  which  a  suitable  translation  would  seem  to  be 
wicked,  perverse,  strong,  numerous,  or  stubborn  heathen.  They 
were  probably  the  Dl&tpt  Zamzummims  of  Deut.  ii.  20. 

The  word  DJl?  be  Ham,  unless  a  pronoun  as  above,  against 
which  much  can  be  said,  is  evidently  used  as  in  the  Psalms  quoted. 
In  all  these  cases  Ham  is  used  somewhat  as  a  synonyme  of  fcHD 
Gush  ;  and  when  applied  to  a  country  generally,  meant  whatever 
country  was  occupied  by  the  descendants  of  Ham.  The  sense  of 
the  sentence,  and  Zuzims  in  Ham,  will  then  be,  and  the  stub 
born  heathen  in  Ethiopia,  or,  the  perverse  tribes  of  Gush,  or 
the  tvicked  nations  of  Ham  ;  all  meaning  the  black  tribes,  de 
scendants  of  Ham,  or  some  one  of  them,  when  particularity  is  in 
tended,  as  probably  in  this  case  ;  and  let  it  be  noticed,  that  Mar- 
tindale,  p.  241,  gives  "blackness"  as  his  first  definition  of  Oush. 
The  descendants  of  Ham  applying  his  name  to  themselves  and 
country,  they  being  black,  it  necessarily  became  significant  of  that 
colour.  We  have  Germans,  Swedes,  English  ;  but  if  we  say  "Ne 
groes,"  or  if  we  say  Africans,  we  mean  black  men,  because  those 
words,  as  now  used,  mean  men  of  colour  ;  and  in  a  sense  analo 
gous,  the  word  Ham  seems  to  have  been  used  in  the  passages 
quoted. 

This  view  of  the  word  Ham  we  think  elucidates  the  history  of 
Esther  and  that  of  Haman  JOH,  the  son  of  Hamadatha—  Agagite, 
ha  Agagi.  The  word  is  a  patronymic  of  tttt  Agag,—hencQ  he  was 
an  Amalekite:  "  Agag,  the  king  of  Amalek"—  "  Agag,  the  king 
of  the  Amalekites."  1  Sam.  xv.  20,  32.  "Now  there  was  one 
Haman,  the  son  of  Amadatha,  by  birth  an  Amalekite."  Josephus, 
book  ii.  cap.  vi.  5.  This  shows  the  cause  of  the  extraordinary 
hatred  that  existed  between  her  people  and  his.  His  very  name 
shows  that  he  was  a  descendant  of  Ham,  and  we  think  also  proves 
that  the  Amalekites  were  black;  and  which  fact  is  confirmed 
by  1  Sam.  xv.  6  :  "  And  Saul  said  unto  the  Kenites,  Go,  depart  ; 
get  ye  down  from  among  the  Amalekites,  lest  I  destroy  you  with 
them,"  _  evincing  the  fact  that  by  mere  inspection  he  could  not  dis 
tinguish  the  one  from  the  other.  We  have  before  shown  that  the 
Kenites  were  black.  The  argument  follows,  that  the  Amalekites 
were  also. 

The  word  Ham  is  also  used  in  1  Chron.  iv.  40,  in  the  same  man 

ner  as  it  is  in  Psalms  and  G-enesis,  thus  :  "  For  they  of  Ham  DH  had 
dwelt  there  of  old."     This,  is  said  of  Gedar,  "  even  unto  the  east 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  499 

side  of  the  valley."     Now  Gedar  was  in  the  mountains  of  Judea, 
(see  Josh.  xv.  48-60,)  or  in  the  valley,  (see  Josh.  xv.  36;)  and  as 
that  account  of  the  country  of  Judea  closes  (see  idem,  63)  by  in 
forming  us  whom  the  inhabitants  of  Judah  could  not  drive  out,  and 
as  the  inhabitants  of  Gedar  are  not  included  in  such  list,  it  is  to 
be  presumed  that  the  inhabitants  of  Gedar  were  so  driven  out  at 
the    time    of    Joshua;    and  leaves  us   nothing  else  to  conclude 
than  that,  whoever  they  were,  they  who  are  spoken  of  in  this  pas 
sage,  as  having  dwelt  there  of  old,  were  the  people  driven  out  by 
him.    But  Josh.  xii.  7,  8  informs  us  who  the  people  were  on  the  west 
side  of  Jordan,  both  in  the  mountains  and  valleys,  and  names  them 
as  Hittites,  Amorites,  Canaanites,  Perizzites,  and  Hivites,  and  Je- 
busites ;  and  from  the  9th  to  the  24th  gives  us  an  account  of  their 
kings,  among  whom  is  named  the  king  of  Gedar,  who  was  smitten 
and  driven  out.     It  is  immaterial  which  of  the  tribes  they  were. 
They  were  inhabitants  of  Palestine,  (see  2  Chr  ~\  xxviii.  18  and 
1  Chron.  xxvii.  28,)  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  not  of  south,  east,  nor 
of  northern  Arabia,  nor  of  Egypt  or  any  part  of  Africa ;  yet  they 
are  emphatically  spoken  of  as  of  Ham,  clearly  having  reference  to 
their  descent  and  colour.     Here  we  have  an  additional  key  where 
by  to  unlock  the  meaning  of  this  word   as  used  in  Psalms  and 
G-enesis.     There  can  be  no  doubt  these  primitive  inhabitants  of 
Gedar  were  the  descendants  of  Canaan.     Yet  they  are  described 
by  the  same  term  which  in  other  places  is  used  to  describe  the 
descendants  of  Cush  and  Mitsraim ;  a  term  which  most  unquestion 
ably  determines  them  to  have  been  black. 

But  the  Coptic  word  chemi,  which  we  have  seen  had  the  same 
significancy  as  DH  ham  in  Hebrew,  opens  to  the  view  the  real 
meaning  of  a  few  Hebrio-Coptic  words  that  grew  into  common 
use  among  the  Hebrews  subsequent  to  their  bondage  in  Egypt.  We 
allude  solely  to  the  derivatives  of^Hjt€\  Chemi.  *\ft3  Chemar 
is  thus  derived,  and  occasionally  used  by  the  holy  writers  to  sig 
nify  black;  thus,  Lam.  v.  10  :  "Our  skin  was  black"  nOJJ  ni 
chemaru.  True,  some  have  disputed  the  accuracy  of  this  transla 
tion.  They  take  a  cognate  meaning,  and  say  our  skin  was  hot,  &c. 
We  hope  to  be  excused  for  adopting  the  received  version.  But  either 
meaning  proves  the  origin  of  the  word  from  the  Coptic  *V  iAjWl 
chemi,  the  same  as  the  ham  of  the  Hebrews.  The  fact  is,  the  cog 
nate  meaning,  sometimes,  necessarily  forces  itself  into  an  English 
translation,  as  in  Gen.  xliii.  30:  "  For  his  bowels  did  yearn," 


500  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

grew  hot,  warmed,  became  agitated,  &c.  1  Kings  iii.  26 :  "  Her 
bowels  yearned,"  npj^  grew  hot,  troubled,  &c. ;  and  also  ffosea 
xi.  8:  "  My  repentings  are  kindled,"  ^P?-?  became  hot,  &c. 

But  in  all  these  instances  the  figure  of  speech  is  more  particu 
larly  Asiatic,  and  more  obscure  than  is  well  suited  to  our  modern 
dialect,  as  we  think  will  be  seen  by  comparing  them  with  Job  iii.  5, 
"  Let  the  blackness  of  the  day  terrify  it." 

From  this  Coptic  name  of  HAM  has  also  been  derived  the  appel 
lative  term  of  the  Moabitish  and  Ammonitish  god  E^DJ  Chemosh. 
The  Syrians  applied  this  term  to  the  fancied  being  who  oppresses 
mankind  during  the  dark  hours  of  their  sleeping,  and  hence  dis 
tressing  dreams,  incubus,  &c.  Chemosh  is  ranked  with  the  god  of 
destruction  among  the  Hindoos,  Mulia  Devd.  The  worshippers  of 
this  god  are  in  Scripture  called  £M05~D#  am  Chemosh,  the  people 
of  Chemosh,  particularly  the  Moabites  and  Ammonites.  The 
image  of  this  god  was  a  black  stone. 

The  term  applied  to  the  priesthood  in  this  worship  among  the 
black  tribes  is  also  derivative  from  the  same  Coptic  word  to  which 
we  have  often  added  in  translation  the  word  "idolatrous."  Thus, 
2  Kingsxxiii.  5,  "  and  he  put  down  the  idolatrous  priests  DHftjnAa 
chemarim."  Hoseax.5,  "And  the  priests  thereof"  1H03-  ZephAA, 
"  And  the  name  of  the  Chemarims,"  DHDJIl  ha  Chemarim,  i.  e. 
the  priests  of  the  Hamitic  fire-worshippers,  &c.  Some  commen 
tators,  not  connecting  these  words  with  the  Coptic,  and  the  priest, 
as  the  term  applies,  with  the  black  families  of  Ham,  have  conceived 
that  the  idea  blackness,  as  associated  with  these  idolatrous  priests, 
had  reference  to  their  apparel.  Hence  they  conceive  that  these 
priests  always  wore  black  apparel ;  whereas  the  fact  is  they  were 
black  men,  and,  as  such,  are  described  by  a  term  indicating  that 
fact,  as  well  as  that  of  their  idolatry  and  descent ;  and  here  we 
find  the  foundation  of  that  modern  and  common  prejudice,  that  the 
appropriate  dress  of  the  clergy  is  black. 

But  we  find  another  derivative  from  the  word  Ham,  Gren. 
xxxviii.  13  :  "And  it  was  told  Tamar,  saying,  Behold  thy  father-in- 
law  7Tpn  goeth  up."  25:  "She  sent  to  her  father-in-law," 
JT/pn.  So  also  1  Sam.  iv.  19  :  "And  that  her  father-in-law  was 
dead."  21.  "  And  because  of  her  father-in-law,"  rPOlT  Thisword 
is  used  in  the  feminine  in  Micah,  vii.  6,  thus  :  "  Against  her  mother- 
in-law"  nriorO  la  hamtha.  We  notice  the  word  is  preceded  by 

-    -    - 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  501 

the  word  117*3,  which  word,  in  G-en.  xxxviii.  11,  is  applied  to  Tamar, 
and  in  Jer.  ii.  32,  evidently  to  a  "bride"  taken  from  the  heathen, 
which  was  forbid;  and  is  also  used  in  Cant. iv. 8, for  the  "  spouse," 
who  is  made  to  declare  herself  a  black  woman,  giving  evidence 
that  the  word  in  Micah  is  used  in  character. 

This  word  is  also  used  in  the  feminine  in  Ruth  i.  14 :  "And  Orpah 

kissed  her  motJier-in-laiv,"  nnlOf"]?  Id  hamotha.  ii.  11 :  "All  that 
thou  hast  done  unto  thy  mother-in-law"  TinlQn  hamothek.  18  : 
"And  her  mother-in-law  saw  what  she  had  done,"  hamotha.  19  : 
"And  her  mother-in-law  (hamotha)  said  unto  her;"  "and  she 
showed  her  mother-in-law,"  la  hamotha.  23  :  "And  dwelt  with  her 
mother-in-law,"  hamotha.  iii.  1:  "Then  Naomi  her  mother-in-law," 
hamotha.  6:  "All  her  mother-in-law  bade  her,"  hamotha.  16: 
"And  when  she  came  to  her  mother-in-law,"  hamotha.  This  is 
certainly  not  the  most  usual  word  in  Hebrew  to  express  the  idea 
of  parent-in-law. 

But  these  instances  of  its  use  are  too  frequent,  its  declination 
too  varied,  and  in  both  genders,  to  admit  the  idea  that  they  are 
the  result  of  error  or  casualty,  although  some  lexicographers  seem 
to  reject  it.  It  may  be  noticed  that  the  individual  holding  the 
junior  position  was  a  female — that  in  each  case  the  parent-in-law 
was  most  unquestionably  of  pure  Shemitic  race. 

But  suspicion  may  at  least  be  allowed  to  such  purity  in  these 
young  females.  Tamar's  husbands  were  half  of  Canaanitish  blood. 
It  would  be  expected  that  she  was  of  that  race,  but  if  not,  her  in 
termarriage  with  those  sons  of  Judah  placed  her  in  that  rank.  The 
sons  of  Eli  were  notoriously  wicked  and  licentious,  and  although 
the  widow  of  Phinehas  appears  to  have  been  of  a  devout  cast,  yet 
God  had  determined  to  destroy  the  house  of  Eli  on  their  account, 
and  to  wrest  the  priesthood  from  the  family.  The  suspicion  as  to 
her  race  grows  out  of  these  facts  and  the  character  of  her  husband. 
Ruth  was  declaredly  a  Moabitess,  and  Orpah  was  of  that  country. 

Much  might  be  said  in  favour  of  the  position  that  in  these  cases 
the  parents-in-law  on  the  husband's  side  were  of  pure  Shemitic 
blood,  and  the  reverse  as  to  the  daughters-in-law.  Now  as  this  pe 
culiar  term  is  nowher.e  else  used  in  the  holy  books,  are  we  not  to 
suppose  that  this  peculiar  state  of  facts  is  nowhere  else  thus  de 
scribed  ?  In  G-en.  xviii.,  when  the  father-in-law  of  Moses  is  named, 
this  term  is  not  used,  but  the  more  usual  one ;  and  the  reason  is  be 
cause  the  position  of  the  parties  is  changed.  Had  the  father  or 


502  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

mother  of  Moses  been  spoken  of  as  the  parent-in-law  of  Zippora, 
then  we  may  presume  this  peculiar  term  would  have  been  used  and 
expressed  the  fact  as  to  the  distinction  of  races ;  that  he  would 
nave  been  called  iTpn,  and  she  her  HnlDH.  And  we  now  pre 
sent  the  inquiry,  how  came  the  name  of  Ham  to  be  thus  com 
pounded  and  used  to  express  this  particular  position  of  relation 
ship  and  distinction  of  race,  unless  from  the  fact  that  he  had? 
placed  his  parents  in  a  similar  position,  liable  to  have  been  called 
by  these  peculiar  terms  ? 


LESSON  XVII. 

HAVING  thus,  at  some  length,  passed  these  subjects  in  review, 
we  present  our  reflections  to  the  impartial  mind. 

But  there  are  grown  up  upon  this  earth  some  men  .  who  would 
seem  to  be  so  holy  and  pure  that  even  the  providences  of  God  are 
defective  in  their  sight,  and  by  their  conduct  seem  to  evince  their 
opinion  to  be  that  Jehovah  could  not  well  manage  the  government 
of  the  world  without  their  especial  counsel  and  aid.  And  do  such 
really  mean  to  condemn  God,  unless  his  government  shall  comport 
with  their  views  ?  In  kindness  of  heart,  and  for  the  benefit  of 
such  poor  fallen  ones,  we  propose  to  close  this  our  present  Study 
by  reading  to  them  the  thirty-third  chapter  of  Ecclesiasticus,  omit 
ting  the  five  verses  irrelevant  to  the  subject. 

"  There  shall  no  evil  happen  unto  him  that  feareth  the  Lord,  but 
in  temptation  even  again  he  will  deliver  him.  A  wise  man  hateth 
not  the  law ;  but  he  that  is  a  hypocrite  therein  is  as  a  ship  in  the 
storm.  A  man  of  understanding  trusteth  in  the  law  ;  and  the  law 
is  faithful  unto  him  as  an  oracle.  Prepare  what  to  say,  and  so 
thou  shalt  be  heard;  and  bind  up  instruction,  and  then  make 
answer."  "Why  doth  one  day  excel  another,  where  as  all  the 
light  of  every  day  in  the  year  is  of  the  sun  ?  By  the  knowledge 
of  the  Lord  they  were  distinguished :  and  he  altered  seasons  and 
feasts.  Some  of  them  hath  he  made  high  days,  and  hallowed  them, 
and  some  of  them  hath  he  made  ordinary  days.  And  all  men  are 
from  the  ground,  and  Adam  was  created  of  earth.  In  much  know 
ledge  the  Lord  hath  divided  them,  and  made  their  ways  diverse. 
Some  of  them  hath  he  blessed  and  exalted,  and  some  of  them  hath 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  508 

he  sanctified,  and  set  near  himself:  but  some  of  them  hath  he 
cursed  and  brought  low,  and  turned  them  out  of  their  places.  As 
the  clay  is  in  the  potter's  hand,  to  fashion  it  at  his  pleasure,  so  is 
man  in  the  hand  of  him  that  made  him,  to  render  to  them  as  liketh 
him  best.  Good  is  set  against  evil,  and  life  against  death :  so  is 
the  godly  against  the  sinner,  and  the  sinner  against  the  godly. 
So  look  upon  all  the  works  of  the  Most  High ;  and  there  are  two 
and  two,  one  against  another.  I  awaked  up  last  of  all,  as  one 
that  gathereth  after  the  grape-gatherers  ;  by  the  blessing  of  God 
I  profited,  and  filled  my  wine-press,  like  a  gatherer  of  grapes. 
Consider  that  I  laboured  not  for  myself  only,  but  for  all  them  that 
seek  learning.  Hear  me,  0  ye  great  men  of  the  people,  and 
hearken  with  your  ears,  ye  rulers  of  the  congregation."  "In  all 
thy  works  keep  to  thyself  the  pre-eminence  ;  leave  not  a  stain  on 
thy  honour.  At  the  time  when  thou  shalt  end  thy  days,  and  finish 
thy  life,  distribute  thine  inheritance.  Fodder,  a  wand  and  burdens, 
are  for  the  ass  ;  and  bread,  correction,  and  work,  for  a  servant. 
If  thou  set  thy  servant  to  labour,  thou  shalt  find  rest,  but  if  thou 
let  him  go  idle,  he  shall  seek  liberty.  A  yoke  and  a  collar  to 
bow  the  neck,  so  are  tortures  and  torments  for  an  evil  servant. 
Send  him  to  labour,  that  he  be  not  idle ;  for  idleness  teacheth 
much  evil.  Set  him  to  work,  as  is  fit  for  him ;  if  he  be  not  obedient, 
put  on  more  fetters.  But  be  not  excessive  toward  any,  and  with 
out  discretion  do  nothing.  If  thou  have  a  servant,  let  him  be  unto 
thee  as  thyself,  because  thou  hast  bought  him  with  a  price.  If 
thou  have  a  servant,  entreat  him  as  a  brother :  for  thou  hast  need 
of  him  as  thine  own  soul :  if  thou  entreat  him  evil,  and  he  run 
from  thee,  which  way  wilt  thou  go  to  seek  him." 

The  doctrine  is,  that  man  is  not  exempt  from  the  general  law, 
that  governs  the  animal  world  ;  that  among  all  the  animated  races 
upon  this  earth,  certain  causes  produce  deterioration ;  and  that  it 
may  take  a  longer  course  of  time  for  the  restoration  of  a  de 
generate  race,  under  the  controlling  influences  of  opposite  causes, 
than  even  that  occupied  in  a  downward  direction.  "  Quickly 
is  the  descent  made  to  hell ;  but  to  recover  from  the  fall,  and  re 
gain  our  former  standing,  is  a  labour,  a  task  indeed."  Virgil 
In  short,  that  sin  has  a  tendency  forcing  downward  to  moral 
and  physical  ruin  ;  to  deteriorate  the  mental  powers,  to  rot,  to 
blast,  as  with  a  mildew,  all  animal  perfections ;  to  fill  life  with  dis 
ease  and  pain,  and  its  hours  with  misery  and  wo,  and  that  it  never 
willingly  ceases  its  iron  hold  until  it  can  shake  hands  with  death. 


504  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

That  God,  in  mercy,  by  the  wisdom  of  his  providence,  has  contrived 
as  it  were  a  shield,  sheltering  poor  fallen  man  from  the  action  of 
such  portion  of  this  deadly  poison  as  would  have  destroyed  every 
hope  of  intercession,  and  for  ever  excluded  from  our  view,  perhaps, 
even  the  advent  of  a  Saviour.  When  the  patient  is  dead,  the 
physician  is  not  called.  The  law  which  produced  the  deluge  and 
destruction  of  the  antediluvian  world  was  a  law  established  from 
all  eternity,  meet  for  just  such  a  case  as  the  moral  and  physical 
condition  of  man  then  was.  For  the  sake  of  ten,  Sodom  would 
not  have  been  destroyed ;  but  it  was  less  than  ten  for  whom  the 
Ark  was  provided  ;  and  we  are  to  remember  that  quick  upon  the 
promise  that  all  flesh  were  not  again  to  be  cast  off,  the  lowest 
grade  of  slavery  was  promulgated,  and  its  subjects  ordered  into 
the  protection  of  the  master ;  and  may  we  not  hence  infer  that 
slavery  is  intended,  to  some  extent,  as  a  preventive,  as  a  shield 
against  sin  ?  And  do  we  not  notice  that  this  shield  is  more  or 
less  weighty,  more  or  less  heavy  to  be  borne,  as  the  safety  of  the 
individual  bearing  it  may  require ;  and  that  it  is  so  cunningly 
contrived,  that  its  weight  and  burden  are  diminished  in  proportion 
as  the  danger  abates  ? 

"He  poureth  contempt  upon  princes,  and  causeth  them  to  wan 
der  in  the  wilderness  where  there  is  no  way ;  yet  setteth  he  the 
poor  on  high  from  affliction,  and  maketh  him  families  like  a  flock. 
The  righteous  shall  see  it  and  rejoice,  and  all  iniquity  shall  stop 
her  mouth.  Whoso  is  wise,  and  will  observe  these  things,  even 
they  shall  understand  the  loving-kindness  of  the  Lord."  Ps.  cvii. 
40-43. 

In  close,  we  may  everywhere  notice  that  some  among  the 
family  of  man  have  become  so  poisoned  with  sin,  so  destroyed, 
that  they  are  no  longer  safe  guardians  to  themselves,  even  under 
the  general  interdict,  that  animal  wants  enslave  us  all.  That  for 
such  God  provides,  as  the  general  safety  may  seem  to  require. 
That,  in  the  history  of  man,  some  races  have  become  so  deterio 
rated  by  a  continued  action  in  opposition  to  the  laws  of  God,  that 
he  has  seen  fit  to  care  for  them,  by  placing  them  under  the  con 
trol  of  others ;  or  by  placing  them,  in  mercy,  under  the  guidance 
of  a  less  deteriorated  race,  whom,  no  doubt,  he  holds  responsible 
for  the  good  he  intends  them.  And  may  we  be  permitted  of  the 
humble  Christian  to  inquire,  if  this  position  presents  any  thing 
contrary  to  the  general  law  of  benevolence  of  the  Deity, — con 
trary  to  the  welfare  of  man  on  earth,  or  his  hopes  of  heaven  ? 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  505 

Will  you  reject  the  doctrine,  saying  the  biblical  proofs  are  too 
scattered,  too  deeply  buried  under  the  dust  of  time?  or,  because 
a  prophet  has  not  appeared,  or  one  arisen  from  the  dead  ?  The 
geologist,  from  a  few  fragments  of  bone,  now  dug  from  the  deep 
bowels  of  the  earth,  is  able  to  set  up  the  osseous  frame,  to  clothe 
with  muscle  and  sinew,  and  give  character  to  the  animals  of  ancient 
time.  And  shall  it  not  be  recollected  by  you,  who  are  striving  to 
make  your  descendants  the  very  princes  of  intellect  and  talent, 
that  similar  researches  may  be  made  in  the  moral  history  of  man? 
We  submit  the  foregoing,  confident,  although  there  may  be  ob 
scurity  and  darkness  yet  surrounding  the  subject,  which  we  have 
not  the  ability  to  dispel,  that  the  time  will  come,  when  it  will  be 
made  plain  to  the  understanding  of  all.  We  therefore  resign  the 
subject,  touching  the  colour  of  the  descendants  of  Ham,  of  their 
relationship  with  the  family  of  Cain,  and  the  ordinances  of  God 
influencing  their  condition  in  the  world,  to  those  more  learned, 
more  critical,  and  of  more  mental  power,  and  into  the  hands  of  those 
whose  lips  have  been  touched  by  a  more  living  coal  from  the  altar 
of  the  prophet. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY- 


LESSON  I. 

IN  the  inquiry  into  the  scriptural  views  of  slavery,  by  ALBERT 
BARNES,  Philadelphia,  1846,  page  322,  we  find  the  following  as 
sertion  :  "No  man  has  a  right  to  assume  that  when  the  word  5oi)/lo$, 
doulos,  occurs  in  the  New  Testament,  it  means  a  slave,  or  that  he 
to  whom  it  was  applied  was  a  slave." 

Our  object  in  our  present  study  is  to  prove  that  this  assertion  is 
not  true;  and  our  object  further  is  to  prove  that  when  the  word 
$oivloc?  doulos,  occurs  in  the  New  Testament,  it  means  a  slave,  and 
that  he  to  whom  it  was  applied,  as  an  appropriate  distinctive  quality, 
was  a  slave. 

Suppose  some  infidel,  a  monomaniac  in  the  study  of  infidelity, 
should  put  forth  the  proposition  that  when  the  words  Jesus  Christ 
occur  in  the  New  Testament,  no  one  had  the  right  to  assume  that 
they  meant  the  Messiah,  the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 
We  should  feel  it  a  needless  labour  to  refute  it ;  a  foolish,  false 
assertion  often  does  not  merit  or  require  refutation,  but  the  falsity 
of  propositions  may  not  be  equally  obvious  to  all,  as  in  the  present 
case. 

The  premises  include  the  observance  of  the  constitution,  idioms, 
and  use  of  the  Greek  language. 

To  him  whose  mind  can  flash  upon  the  volume  of  Greek  litera 
ture,  like  the  well-read  schoolboy  upon  the  pages  of  Dilworth,— 
our  present  study  and  argument  will  be  unnecessary  and  useless ; 
but,  as  unsavoury  as  it  may  seem,  from  the  evidence  that  reaches 
us,  we  doubt  whether  the  great  mass  of  those  called  learned,  do 
not  remember  and  practise  their  Greek  only  as  the  old  veterans  in 
sin  do  the  evening  and  morning  prayers  of  their  childhood. 

But,  however  that  may  be,  a  great  proportion  of  us  know  no 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  507 

language  but  our  own,  and  take  on  trust  what  any  Magnus  Apollo 
may  choose  to  assume  concerning  others.  The  assertions  of  one 
man,  unaccompanied  by  evidence,  may  excite  little  or  no  attention ; 
but  we  have  seen  the  substance  of  this  assertion  put  forth  by  the 
abolition  clergy  in  various  small  publications,  no  doubt  having 
great  weight  in  their  immediate  vicinage. 

We  fear  those  who  sit  under  such  teaching  may  grope  in  deep 
darkness ;  and  may  we  humbly  pray,  that,  like  the  stroke  of  Jove, 
the  light  of  the  Almighty  may  reach  them  from  afar. 


LESSON  II. 

WHEN  the  untruthfulness  of  the  lesson  taught  involves  a  mis 
conception  of  the  character  and  laws  of  God,  its  direct  tendency 
is  to  create  in  the  mind  an  idea  of,  we  may  say,  an  image  of  God 
and  his  laws,  as  decidedly  different  from  him  and  his  law  as  is  the 
lesson  taught  from  the  truth  ;  and  here,  perhaps,  through  all  time, 
has  been  the  commencement  of  idolatry. 

Is  it  not  as  much  idolatry  to  worship  a  false  image  of  the  mind, 
as  it  would  be  an  image  of  wood  or  stone  ? 

You  teach  that  Soivtog,  doidos,  does  not  mean  slave  in  the  word 
of  God ;  you  consequently  teach  that  God  disapproves  of  it,  and 
that  his  laws  forbid  it.  We  say  the  exact  contrary.  It  is  there 
fore  evident  that  the  idea,  the  image  we  form  in  the  mind  of  our 
God,  is  quite  different  from  the  idea  you  form  in  your  mind  of 
your  God.  But  God  cannot  possess  a  contradiction  in  quality ; 
therefore  the  God  we  worship  must  be  a  different  God  from  the 
God  you  worship.  But  there  can  be  but  one  God ;  therefore  your 
God  is  a  false  God,  or  our  God  is  a  false  God.  You  are  an  idol 
ater,  or  we  are  one. 

And  shall  it  be  said  that  our  language  is  too  strong  ? — unneces 
sarily  extreme  in  its  denunciation  ? — unwarranted  by  the  views,  by 
the  language  held  by  the  advocates  of  abolition  and  the  friends 
of  the  anti-slavery  movements  now  in  action  in  the  Northern  sec 
tions  of  our  country  ?  Hear  the  proclamation  of  Mr.  Wright,  an 
eloquent  speaker,  before  the  Anti-Slavery  Society,  as  reported  in 
the  Boston  papers,  May  30th,  1850 : 

"  Down  with  your  Bible  ! — down  with  your  political  parties  ! — 


508  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


down  with  your  God  that  sanctions  slavery !  The  God  of  Moses 
Stuart,  the  Andover  God,  the  God  of  William  H.  Rogers,  which 
is  worshipped  in  the  Winter-street  Church,  is  a  monster,  composed 
of  oppression,  fraud,  injustice,  pollution,  and  every  crime,  in  the 
shape  of  slavery.  To  such  a  God  I  am  an  atheist." 

Thus  the  enemies  of  Jehovah  give  rapid  proof  of  their  idolatry. 

It  may  be  well  here  to  remark,  that  the  doctrine  thus  strange 
and  astray  from  truth,  may  be  expected  to  engraft  itself  upon  such 
intellects  as  are  led  to  the  conclusion  that  man  possesses  within 
himself  an  unerring  guide  between  right  and  wrong, — a  doctrine 
which  to  us  appears  deeply  fraught  with  ruin  to  the  individual,  and 
degradation  to  public  morals. 

We  therefore  condemn,  most  decidedly,  the  doctrine  that  man 
possesses  a  mental  power  called  "moral  sense,"  "conscience,"  or 
the  "light  within  us,"  which  enables  him  unerringly  to  decide  on 
right  and  wrong.  You  may  as  well  say  it  will  always  enable  him 
to  discern  the  truth.  Nor  do  we  comprehend  how  the  mind  can 
entertain  such  a  notion,  unless  the  intellect  is  thus  impressible  that 
the  mind  can  believe  in  the  existence  of  what  would  be  a  sister 
faculty,  clairvoyance,  or  a  thousand  other  such  fantasies. 

Man  possesses  no  power  by  which  he  can  know  God,  only  as  he 
has  revealed  himself  by  inspiration  and  by  the  daily  manifesta 
tions  of  his  law.  We  prefer  to  worship  the  God  of  Abraham  and 
Moses,  who  gave  them  directions  how  slaves  should  be  governed, 
and  of  whom  they  should  be  purchased : — the  God  of  the  Bible,  in 
which  he  has  plainly  revealed  the  reason  why  they  are  slaves.  The 
history  of  the  human  intellect  gives  proof  that  among  its  strong 
characteristics  is  a  desire,  a  fondness  to  search  into  mystery.  While 
this  quality  stimulates  to  inquiry  after  truth,  in  well  organized 
minds,  it  is  an  important  means  of  man's  improvement  and  pro 
gression.  But  in  the  absence  of  all  guides  which  can  direct 
the  path  to  successful  inquiry,  or  by  the  substitution  of  false 
lights,  man  has  ever  gone  astray.  Here  idolatry  commences  her 
reign. 

The  condition  of  man,  from  the  most  exalted  instance  of  mental 
power,  down  to  the  most  abject  degradation  of  the  African  savage, 
is  for  ever  marked  and  located  by  the  fact,  whether  the  guides  to 
truth  in  their  influence  on  him  and  his  race  have  been  universal, 
or  only  occasional ;  whether  their  influence  has  been  obeyed  only 
at  distant  periods,  or  at  all  times  rejected.  It  is  the  law  of  God, 
man  shall  not  progress  to  greatness  only  under  the  guidance  of 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  509 


truth  ;  under  the  guidance  of  falsehood,  man  degenerates  to  insig 
nificance,  crime,  slavery,  or  to  inglorious  death. 

We  do  not  propose  that  any  man  or  any  race  has,  without  ex 
ception,  been  under  the  constant  influence  of  those  axioms  that 
guide  the  mind  along  the  thread  of  truth ;  but  that  some  men  and 
some  races  have  deviated  far  more  than  others,  and  that  the  effect 
of  such  difference  is  quite  perceptible.  Some  races  have  become 
highly  improved,  while  others  only  give  evidence  that  they  belong 
to  the  animal  race  of  men. 

Distinctions  from  this  source  arose  between  Cain  and  Abel ; 
between  the  sons  of  Noah,  Abraham,  and  the  fire-worshippers  of 
his  day ;  between  Jacob  and  Esau ;  and  between  the  Israelites  and 
the  idolaters  of  the  surrounding  Hamitic  tribes.  This  love  of 
searching  into  mystery  without  using  the  aids  to  find  truth,  has  at 
all  times  of  the  world,  when  supreme  power  was  the  object  of  con 
templation,  led  men  to  idolatry,  sometimes  of  the  grossest  kind ; 
to  the  belief  in  mysterious  influences,  supernatural  agencies,  of 
spirits  and  demons,  magic,  witchcraft,  &c. 

To  the  same  order  of  causes  we  are  to  attribute  the  sentiment 
entertained  by  some,  that  certain  portions  of  Scripture  and  certain 
words  sometimes  contain  unknown,  hidden,  secret,  or  mysterious 
meanings  or  instructions.  Such  views  involve  the  proposition  that 
such  words,  when  used  in  the  Scripture,  have  a  different  meaning 
than  when  otherwise  used  by  men,  and  are  to  be  translated  into 
another  language  by  substituting  different  ideas  than  those  ex 
pressed  by  such  words  when  used  by  man  in  his  own  oral  or  written 
language. 

Do  they  forget  that  the  language  of  man  is  the  language  of 
God?  That  revelation  is  always  adapted  to  the  understanding  of 
men?  They  forget  to  know  this  first,  that  no  prophecy  of  the 
Scripture  is  of  any  private  interpretation.  It  happens  that  men 
take  their  own  circumscribed  view  of  the  providence  of  God,  as 
God's  ordinance  touching  a  matter,  and  if  Scripture  is  in  contra 
diction,  then  they  search  for  mysterious  or  unusual  meaning,  and 
give  it  such  interpretation  as  they  imagine  suits  the  case. 

Hence  theologians  who  deny  that  slavery  is  of  Divine  authority, 
are  led  to  the  necessity  of  also  denying  that  the  Greek  word  <5oivto$, 
doulos,  means  slave  ;  or  that,  in  its  verbal  formation,  it  expresses  a 
cognate  action. 

The  frequency  of  the  use  of  this  word  in  the  copies  of  the  an 
cient  Greek  Testament,  as  left  us  in  the  evangelical  writings  of 


10  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 

he  apostles ;  the  varied  manner  in  which  they  have  applied  the 
erm,  in  figurative  illustration,  in  comparison,  in  the  most  simple 
xplanations,  as  well  as  in  the  expression  of  the  primitive  idea 
fhich  they  intended  to  convey  by  it,  would  seem  to  be  sufficient 
'roof  that  whatever  such  primitive  idea  may  have  been,  yet  that  it 
urely  was  in  exact  conformity  to  the  common  and  received  opinion 
f  its  signification  among  those  who  wrote  in  and  used  the  Greek 
inguage.  This  is  very  clear,  since  it  is  often  used  and  addressed 
:>  the  Greeks  themselves,  insomuch  that  no  temerity  has  ever  yet 
sserted  that  this  word  is  of  different  import  when  found  in  the 
Titings  of  the  apostles  than  when  found  in  the  Greek  authors 
enerally. 


LESSON  III. 


THE  Greek  noun  Sov^ogy  doulos,  which  we  say  means  a  slave 
Qconditionally,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  examine,  took  its 
rigin,  both  phonetically  and  literally,  among  the  Greeks.  Let  us 
ike  5o6,  as  theme  for  SiS^u,  and  Aoik),  or  from  the  radical 
OQ,  loo  :  both  phonetically  and  significantly  the  word  is  complete. 
.t  the  most  ancient  period  of  the  Greeks,  it  is  said  they  had  no 
aves,  and  it  is  a  little  remarkable  that  the  word  "doulos"  is  very 
jldom  found  in  the  most  ancient  of  the  Greek  writers  :  but  other 
itions  more  advanced  had  slaves.  The  idea,  slave,  was  then  ex- 
ressed  by  them  by  the  term  §[ito$,  dmos,  evidently  of  foreign 
:igin.  This  latter  term  was  nearly  or  quite  obsolete  as  early  as 
ie  days  of  Alexander,  when  the  word  doulos  is  found  to  have 
,ken  its  place. 

The  ancient  and  Eastern  nations  were  particular  in  their  custom 
•  bathing  their  bodies  and  washing  their  feet,  &c.  One  of  the 
rat  and  most  important  uses  to  which  the  early  Greeks  seem  to 
ive  applied  slaves,  was  in  these  personal  purifications;  and 
mce  the  peculiar  name  &>i$og  originated  ;  $ov-%ovu,  one  whose 
fice  it  was  to  bathe  and  wash  them,  a  bondman  for  that  particular 

56. 

There  is  no  instance  in  which  Homer  has  used  the  word  incom- 
itible  with  such  an  association.  The  most  affecting,  we  may  say 
Sicting,  circumstance  in  which  he  has  introduced  the  word  is  the 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  5H 


parting  of  Hector  and  Andromache;  when  Hector,  anticipating 
his  own  death,  and  the  probability  of  her  being  made  a  slave  to 
the  Greeks,  emphatically  laments  her  being  compelled  to  carry 
water  for  her  master,  as  if  that  was  a  particular  employment  in 
which  the  doulos  was  engaged. 

But  it  does  not  affect  the  force  of  our  argument,  even  if  it  shall 
be  thought  that  the  origin  we  give  the  word  is  doubtful.  All  we 
at  the  present  moment  propose  is,  that  it  is  an  original  Greek  term, 
all  of  which  terms,  either  remotely  or  immediately,  spring  from 
particles  having  a  significant  and  phonetic  relation  with  the  deriva 
tive.  Such  has  been  the  Doctrine  of  all  who  have  written  upon 
the  philology  and  origin  of  the  Greek  language.  Valckenaerus 
(the  edition  of  Venice,  published  by  Coletos)  says,  p.  8 — 

"Verba  simplicia  apud  Grsecos  sunt  vel  'primitiva,'  vel  a  primi- 
tivis  per  varios  flexus  'derivata.' 

"Primitiva  verba  admodum  sunt  'pauca:'  '  derivatorum'  nume- 
rus  est  infinitus. 

"'Binse'  literarum  syllabae  verbum  primitivum  constituunt. 

"Verba  primitiva,  secundum  observationem  tertiam,  dissyllaba 
sunt  vel  'bilittera,'  vel  trilittera,  vel  quadrilittera. 

"Primitiva  'bilittera,'  per  rei  naturam,  dari  possunt  in  univer- 
sum  (si  vel  totam  linguam  perscrutemur)  tantum  quinque,  nempe 
aG),66),  oco?  (G),  vc>).  Primitiva  'trilittera'  sunt,  quse  a  'vocali.'  'qua 
drilittera'  (pleraque  saltern)  quse  a  '  consonante,'  incipiunt.  Hoc 
certum  est :  sed  de  eo  etiamnum  addubito,  an  nonnulla  verba 
*  quinque'  litteris  constantia  pro  '  primitivis'  debeant  haberi  ?"  &c. 

And  Lennepius,  de  Anologia  Linguse  Graecse,  (eadem  editio,)  p.  38 : 

"  Cognita  literarum  potestate,  earumque  antiquitate,  ad  primas 
linguoe  Grsecce  origines  indagandas  progrediendum  est.  Viden- 
dum  itaque  prima  loco,  qusenarn  voces  pro  '  simplicissimis  origini- 
bus'  haberi  possint,  qusenam  minus  ?  Hoc  autem  ut  rite  peragatur, 
qusedam  de  '  parfibus  orationis'  ante  sunt  monenda. 

"Ex  viii.  partibus  quas  vulgo  statuunt  grammatici,  'Verbum  et 
Nomen'  principem  obtinent  locum :  .quum  reliquse  omnes  facillime 
ad  harum  partium  alterutram  referi  possint.  Quapropter  etiam 
'Aristoteles,'  aliique  de  veteribus,  revera  '  duas'  tantum  esse 
;  partos  orationis'  voluerunt. 

"  Addunt  quidem  alii  tertiam  partem,  utriusque,  nempe  et  '  verbi 
et  nominis,  ligamentum,'  sive  particulas,  quod,  nempe,  particulse 
orationem  in  unum  corpus  veluti  connectant  et  devinciant.  Sed, 
qui  attentius  '  particularum'  naturam  irispexerit,  facile  animad- 


512  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

vertat,  omnia  fere,  quae/particularum'  nomine  insigniuntur,  si  'exte- 
riorem  formam'  eorumque  naturam  grammaticam  inspiciamus. 
referenda  esse  vel  ad  i  noraen'  vel  ad  '  verbum.' 

"  Ita  verbi  gr.:  particula  tiv,  Lat.  igitur,  revera  participium  est. 
contracta  pro  eov^  quod  neutrum  a  masculo  scdv  est,  quo  modo  partici 
pium  verbi  f(o,  vel  ff^a,  pronuntiarunt  Tones,  quum  Attici  sov  con- 
traxerint  in  vv.  Apparet  itaque,  Grsecum  &v  revera  pertinere  ad 
nomina  participialia.  Eadem  ratio  cernitur  quoque  in  particulis 
Ttoi,  Ttriy  7t»,  quae  'adverbia  loci'  dicuntur,  quorum  duo  priora 
proprie  '  dativa  antiqua'  sunt,  postremum  vero  genitivus  est ;  quem- 
admodum  similis  ratio  cernitur  in  adverbiis  quae  dicuntur  4  Loci' 
apud  Latinos,  quo,  qua,  et  similibus. 

"  Ad  'verba'  porro  referenda  sunt  d^e,  <J>£pe?  ISS9  l$i,sia  vel  £ou 
et  plura  alia  similia,  id  quod  in  aliis  clarius,  in  aliis  minus  mani 
festo,  apparet.  Horum  tarnen  omnium  rationem  eandem  fuisse  in 
prima  linguae  Graecae  infantia,  non  est  quod  dubitemus. 

"  Haec  igitur  quum  revera  sic  sese  habeant,  jam  porro  inquiren- 
dum  est,  utrum  verba,  an  vero  nomina,  'primas'  linguae  Grrsecse 
stirpes  nobis  subministrent. 

"  Docet  autem  ipsa  rei  natura,  si  de  c  simplicissimis'  verbis  sermo 
fiat,  i  nomina'  a  'verbis,'  non  verba  a' nominibus,  priinum  esse 
formata. 

"  Quum  enim  omnes  res  vocabulis,  tanquam  nominibus,  signatss, 
ab  usu  qui  singulis  adest,  vel  quacumque  etiam  actione,  nomina 
sua  acceperint :  clare  apparet,  sicut  ipsam  actionem  unde  res  deno- 
minata  sit,  ita  etiam  verbum,  quo  actio  designetur,  praecedere 
nomini,  quod  ab  actione  aliqua  rei  sit  inditum.  Atque  hoc  adeo 
certum  est,  non  solum  in  lingua  Grseca,  sed  etiam  omnibus  omnino 
linguis,  lit  extra  omnem  controversiam  positum  esse  videatur :  nisi 
quis  delabatur  illuc,  ut  linguas  integras,  qua  late  patent,  nullo 
artificio  humano  accedente,  uno  temporis  articulo  hominibus  divi- 
nitus  datas  esse,  eosque  statim  caluisse  tot  myriadas  quot  in  sin 
gulis  linguis  sunt  vj)cabulorum ;  tametsi  res  ipsas  vocabulis  istis 
designandas  plerosque  primes  homines  ignorasse  certum  est. 

"Hoc  autem  quam  sit  rationi  contrarium,  atque  ipsi  experientiae, 
facile  apparet,  si  modo  consideremus,  ea  ratione  multa  vocabula 
existere  jam  debuisse  priusquam  eorum  utilitas  inter  homines 
ulla  esset,  quseque  proinde,  non  nisi  vani  et  inutiles  soni,  facile  et 
sine  ulla  jactura  dediscenda  fuissent. 

"  Quin  imo  experientia  abunde  docet,  primum  res  ipsas  inveniri 
hommum  industria,  deinde  autem  inventis  nomina  imponi,  sive  ab 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  513 

atilitate  sive  alia  qualitate  ducta.  Ex  quo  porro  apparet,  quo 
plures  res  ab  aliquo  populo  inveniantur,  eo  ditiorem  et  uberiorem 
eorum  linguam  fieri,  ut  adeo  mirandum  non  sit  tantam  esse  linguae 
Graecae  copiam  et  ubertatem,  quum  exculta  ea  fuerit  a  populo 
ingeniosissimo,  cui  omnes  artes  et  discipline  non  tantum  primordia 
sua,  sed  etiam  omnem  fere  splendorem,  debent.  Linguas  itaque 
diligenter  consideranti,  idem  quod  in  artibus,  in  iis  quoque  usu 
venire  apparebit :  eas  nimirum  a  paucis  simplicissimisque  initiis 
profectas,  non  nisi  sensim  et  progressu  temporis  ad  earn  qua 
postea  patuerunt  amplitudinem  pervenisse.  Quum  autem  hominum 
natura  ita  sit  comparata,  ut  primum  eas  res  circumspiciat,  quae 
necessario  ad  vitam  sustentandam,  et  cum  aliis  quibuscum  homo 
societatis  vinculo  conjunctus  est  secure  agendam,  requirantur, 
dein  vero  ea  excogitat  quae  vitam  jucundiorem  possint  reddere, 
valde  verisimile  fit  vocabula  ea  in  linguis  antiquissima  esse  quibus 
res  designantur  ad  vitam  degendam  necessaries,  si  recesseris  ab 
iis  vocabulis,  quae  in  antiquissimorum  vocabulorum  locum  deinceps 
substituta  sunt,  ut  revera  hujus  generis  multae  vocabulorum  formae 
inveniantur,  quae  verborum  obsoletorum  locum  occupaverunt. 

"Porro  non  alienum  erit  hie  observasse  non  tantum  ejusmodi 
vocabula  antiquissima  existimari  debere,  sed  etiam  'ipsas'  signifi- 
cationes  verbis  subjectas  tanto  antiquioris  usus  esse,  tantoque 
magis  proprias  esse  habendas,  quanto  sunt  propiores  iis  rebus  quas 
corporis  sensibus  percipimus.  Ab  iis  enim  semper  servata  qua- 
darn  similitudine  ad  reliquas  quascumque  verborum  significations 
progrediendum  est :  ut  adeo  appareat,  paucissimas  revera  esse 
proprias  verborum  4  significations,'  nee  alias  esse  nisi  corporeas, 
sive  eas  quibus  res  sensibus  externis  expositae  designantur. 

"  E  contrario  autem,  translatarum  significationum  copiam  irn- 
mensam,  quae  ex  propria  notione,  tanquam  ex  trunco  arboris  rami, 
quaquaversum  pateant ;  manente  similitudine  inter  eas  omnes  et 
propriam  seu  primam  stirpis  significationem,  similiter  atque  rami, 
utcumque  dispersi,  et  communem  et  communis  trunci  naturam 
retinent. 

"  Ex  his  praeterea  intelligitur  ea  verba,  quae  ovo^ala  neTtoir- 
[teva  a  Graecis  vocantur,  sic  dicta  quia  a  i  nomine'  vel  '  sono'  for- 
mentur,  '  propriam'  earn  significationem  quae  soni,  unde  facta  sunt, 
naturam  referat.  Quorum  verborum  numerus  ingens  revera  in 
linguis  est,  et  longe  major  quam  vulgo  credi  solet.  Sed,  ut  ad 
propositum  redeamus,  ex  iis  quae  supra  dicta  sunt,  clare  apparet, 

Bimplicissimas  origines  non  posse  repeti  nisi  ab  ejusmodi  verbis, 

33 


514  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

quibus  actiones  ipsae  significentur ;  adeoque  a  verbis  sic  proprie 
dictis. 

"  Quumque  actiones  infinitae,  sive  nulli  certae  personae  adsignatse, 
per  rei  naturam  antecedere  debeant  iis  quae  certae  personae  attribu- 
nntur,  verba  'infinitiva'  simplicissima  proprie  primas  linguae 
Grascae  origines  continere  certum  est. 

"  Harum  autem  plurimae,  quum  jam  a  longissimis  temporibus, 
una  cum  plerisque  notionibus  propriis,  ex  usu  ceciderint,  ac  diffi- 
cillimae  saepe  indagatu  sint,  quo  certiores  progredi  possimus,  id 
semper  tenendum  est,  ne  quidquam  admittamus  quod  constant! 
analogic  linguae  repugnet ;  dein  etiam,  ut  ex  ipsis  linguae  reliquiis, 
rite  inter  se  comparatis,  inquiramus  a  quo  verbo  original!  voca- 
bulum  quodque  oriatur :  etiam  turn,  quum  minus  ipsum  verbum 
originate  superstes  sit. 

"Ubi  enim  in  sequentibus  agetur  de  '  simplicissimis'  verbis 
'primitivis,'  id  non  ita  accipiendum  est  quasi  ea  omnia,  sicut  etiam 
multa  derivata  simpliciora,  florente  lingua  Graeca,  in  sermone 
Graecorum  adhuc  exstitisse  vellem ;  sed  tantum,  in  primo  linguae 
Graecae  ortu,  aut  exstitisse  revera  aut  saltern  existere  potuisse. 
Neque  enim,  in  hoc  linguae  Graecae  defectu,  aeque  certo  sciri 
potest,  an  tanta  copia,  quantam  fingere  verborum  per  lingua? 
naturam  constant!  analogiae  ductu  liceat,  prima  linguae  Graecae 
aetate  reipsa  viguerit." 

Our  object  is  here  to  present  the  Greek  scholar,  who  may  not 
have  reflected  on  the  subject,  such  suggestions  as  will  lead  him  to 
perceive  that  i0i&0£>  doulos,  is  an  original  Greek  word,  not  bor 
rowed  ;  and  although  he  may  not  agree  with  us  in  the  derivation  of 
the  term,  yet  that  he  may  readily  satisfy  himself  what  is  the 
true  derivation.  It  is  true,  Scheidius,  in  his  "  Animadversiones 
ad  analogiam  linguae  Graecae,"  has  criticized  the  views  of  Lennepius, 
and  has  devoted  near  thirty  pages  to  that  which  is  our  quotation 
from  him ;  and  we  did  fancy,  upon  its  examination,  that  he  had  rather 
established  than  weakened  the  argument  of  Lennepius :  in  fact  we 
did  propose  to  quote  him  as  authority ;  but  to  the  most  of  us  long 
quotations,  in  a  language  to  us  unknown,  are  quite  objectionable. 
We  therefore  refer  to  his  work,  pp.  246  to  275,  apud  Padden- 
burg  et  filium,  1790,  "  Traiecti  ad  Rhenum."  It  has  been  said 
by  some  of  those  who  contend  that  <5oi'/Lo$,  when  found  in  the 
Greek  Testament,  does  not  'mean  slave,  that  the  Greek,  like  all 
other  languages  of  modern  date,  is  a  compilation  from  the  more 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  515 

ancient  ones ;  and  since  the  Greeks  at  an  early  day  had  no  slaves, 
it  is  evident,  it  is  good  proof  that  the  more  ancient  tribes,  from 
whom  they  and  their  language  descended,  had  none ;  and  in  all 
such  early  periods  of  the  world  men  never  had  words  in  their  lan 
guage  to  express  things  which  did  not  exist  among  them,  of  which 
they  could  have  no  idea. 

Therefore  Soivtog  could  not  have  meant  slave, — "an  idea  of 
which  they  had  no  notion,"  Even  if  this  statement  were  true,  we 
do  not  perceive  how  it  proves  their  proposition.  To  show  the.  fu 
tility  of  such  argument,  we  consent,  for  the  moment,  that  Sovhog 
is  not  an  original  Greek  word,  but  was  borrowed  from  some  other 
language,  in  which  it  meant  something  distinct  from  the  idea  of 
slave :  say,  a  freeman,  if  you  choose.  Language,  and  all  its  parts, 
has  ever  been  found  to  conform  itself  to  the  habits  and  wants  of 
those  who  use  it.  Wherefore  we  often  find  a  term,  which  some 
centuries  ago  expressed  a  certain  distinct  idea,  now  to  express 
quite  a  different  one.  We  therefore  cannot  say,  with  any  propriety, 
that,  because  the  word  $oivlog  meant  a  "freeman,"  at  the  age.  of 
Noah,  that  it  also  meant  the  same  thing  at  the  age  of  Alexander. 
If  it  meant  a  "freeman"  at  the  age  of  Noah,  we  are  to  determine 
that  fact  by  its  use  at  that  period ;  if  otherwise,  we  should  be  able 
to  prove  that  our  word  slave  does  not  mean  a  slave  now,  but  a  proud 
and  lofty  distinction. 

It  is  a  term  borrowed  from  the  Schlavonic,  where  its  significance 
was  fame,  renown,  &c. ;  but  the  Schlavonians  going  into  bond 
age  to  other  nations,  upon  their  inroads  on  Europe,  the  term  im 
plying  fame  in  their  ancient  national  distinctions  came  to  signify 
in  succeeding  ages  the  condition  of  bondage.  But  although,  as 
we  have  seen,  a  language  is  modified  by  the  habits  of  those  who 
apply  it,  yet  this  liability  to  change  ceases  when  the  language 
ceases  to  be  the  common  vehicle  of  thought.  Such  substantially 
has  been  the  case  with  the  ancient  Hebrew,  since  the  era  of  the 
prophets ;  and  such  has,  emphatically,  been  the  case  with  the  ancient 
Greek  since  the  breaking  down  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

And  even  at  the  age  of  the  apostles,  the  Greek  had  already  ar 
rived  at  the  very  highest  point  of  its  cultivation.  No  history,  no 
writer  gives  proof  of  any  subsequent  improvement.  If,  then,  we 
desire  with  seriousness  and  truth  to  determine  the  significance  of 
any  term  then  in  use,  the  same  is  alone  to  be  found  by  an  inves 
tigation  of  the  Greek  literature  of  that  age. 

There  are  two  modes  by  which  an  idea  expressed  in  one  language 


516  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

is  explained  in  another.  Where  both  languages  contain  words  of 
synonymous  meaning,  then  the  expressing  the  idea  through  the 
medium  of  the  words  in  another  language,  is  properly  what  we 
mean  by  "translation."  But  in  many  instances,  the  second  lan 
guage  contains  no  word  or  words  which  are  synonymes  of  the  term 
by  which  the  idea  is  expressed  in  the  language  which  we  wish  to 
translate.  In  that  case  we  can  accomplish  the  object  only  by 
transferring  the  term  expressing  the  idea  from  the  one  language 
to  the  other.  Example : — When  the  French  exhibited  to  the  na 
tives  here  a  padlock,  the  natives  associated  the  thing  with  their 
idea  of  the  tortoise,  from  the  fancied  mechanical  resemblance,  and 
with  them  the  name  of  the  one  became  the  name  of  the  other  also. 
But  when  we  exhibited  to  them  a  steamboat,  they  found  their  lan 
guage  destitute  of  any  word  to  express  their  idea  of  the  thing  ex 
hibited  ;  consequently,  they  transferred  into  their  own  language  the 
word  steamboat,  to  express  the  new  idea. 

With  a  view  to  be  enabled  to  come  to  a  truthful  decision  as  to 
the  .  definiteness  of  the  idea  intended  to  be  conveyed  by  the  word 
doulos,  when  used  in  the  writings  of  the  apostles,  let  us  make  a 
suitable  inquiry  among  the  Greek  authors  read  and  studied  at  their 
time,  regardless  of  what  may  be  the  result  as  to  the  establishment 
of  any  peculiar  theory  or  favourite  notion.  Let  a  development  of 
the  truth  be  the  sole  object  of  the  research,  careless  of  what  else 
may  stand  or  fall  thereby.  And  since  all  have  not  chosen  to  burden 
themselves  with  the  toilsome  lesson  necessary  in  a  preparation  for 
such  examination,  we  consent .  that  such  may  pass  it  by  with  the 
same  indifference  with  which  they  regard  the  study. 


LESSON  IV. 

WE  commence  our  quotations  from  the  Greek  authors  with  the 
Cebetis  Tabula,  from  the  Gronovius  edition,  Glasgow,  1747 : 

P.  17.  SLO  xai  brav  ava^ari  navff  baa  shafts  Ttapd.  1% 

t^XTiS)  Givayxd^srai  tavvaig  vals  yvvat^t  Sovhsvsiv,  xai 
navO'  V7to[i£vsiv,  xai  da^fioi^lvy  xai  noisiv  svsxsv  vovvav  baa 
sari  fihajftepd. 

P.  34.  Toi$  (isyiatovs,  s<pri,  xai  rd  ^g/tcrra  Sypta,  a 
pav  avvov  xa^ria^iSy  xai  sx6ha&,  xai  sTtoiei  8ov^ov. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  517 


' 


Ttdvra  vevixYixe,  xal  drteppi&v  d<J>'  savtoii,  xa 

eavrov,  fate  exelva  vvv  <roiko)  Sovhevovai,  xaQdnep  o£ro$ 


jEschylus,  Prometheus  Chained.     Line  463  : 

xd£evga  Ttp&rog  J  v  fryolg  w 
ZevyhaLtii  So 
In  his  Choephoroi  line  75  : 


oxuv 


Sovhiov  saayov  afoav 
xai  fin  &'#aca, 
Tr'  dp^atg  (iiov, 
(3lq  fyEpopevttv  alvsaai  Ttixpov 


Burney  translates  this  passage  thus  : 

Etenim  e  domo  paterna  servilem  induxeram  sortem,  stat  juste 
et  injuste,  convenienter  origini  meJB,  eorum  qui  vi  agunt  laudare 
acerbum  mentis  odium  coercenti. 

Line  133.  xayu  {ikv  avtiSovtog  —  which  the  same  author  trans 
lates,  Et  ego  quidem  pro  serva  habeor. 

Anacreon,  Sur  I'  Amour  Esclave  : 

Al  MovGai  tbv  "Epcora 


To  Kd/l/let 
Kai,  vvv  n  K 


tov  "Epcora. 
May  <^£  tig  avrov, 
Qvx  £^ft(Tt,  [level  be' 
Aovhsveiv  SeSiSaxtai. 

Lucian,  Dialogues  of  the  Gods—  Jove,  ^sculapius,  and  Hercules: 

1^6)  Se,  £i  xal  [iviSev  d^l/lo,  ov?e  s&ovhevtia  oxTTtep  av. 
Translation:  Ego  vero,  si  nihil  aliud,  neque  servivi  quemadmo- 
dum  tu,  &c. 

Mercury  and  Maia  : 

-  ocTTtep  ol  ev  yy  xax&g  Sovhevavtes, 
Ut  in  terris  solent,  qui  malam  servitutem  serviunt. 


518  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


Charon  sive  Contemplantes.     Mercury : 
Ov  yap  ota&a  OGOL  Tto'/le^ot  Std  <roi)ro?  xai  sTtifiovhai,  xai 
yipta,  xai  ertiopxtai,  xai  tyovoi,  xai  <5ecrtttd?  xai  7t/loi)g  ^a- 
xai  S{.i7topiai,  xai  Sov'^elai; 
Nescis  enim  quot  propterea  bella  existant,  et  insidiae,  latrocinia, 
perjuria,  caedes,  vincula,  navigatio  longinqua,  mercaturse,  servitutes 
denique  ? 

Cataplus  sive  Tyrannus : 

Clotho. — ^Axove'  IJLO^OV  ^dp  dvidari  (laO&v.  T^riv  p.sv  yv- 
valxd.  (Tot  M/Sag  6  Soil /log  e%ei,  xai  nd&ai  Ss  avrriv  £{ioi%evev. 

Audi,  magis  enim  iis  auditis  lugebis :  uxorem  tuam  Midas  ha- 
bebit,  servus  qui  olim  adulterio  illi  cognitus  est. 

Megapenthes. — Kdv  iStdrtyiv  fie  rtoiqGov,  o  Motpa,  t&v  nevn- 
fov  sva,  xqv  Sovhov,  dvtt  rov  ndhai  (3aai^s^. 

Vel  privatum  me  facito,  Parca,  pauperuni  unum,  vel  servum,  pro 
eo,  qui  rex  nuper  fui. 

Necyomantia,  Menippus : 

*     *     exoMgwvo  te  dfia  ndvrsg,  (3aaifalg,  Sovhoi, 

,  T&uovtivoc  xai  {isttfi&e  Ttdcrt  tew 
Se  airtcxv  xai  syv^iaa^ev  ISowteg,  o 
evauyxpg  Vffifavfffvpayffcw.  ol  Se  evexa^VTtrovro  xai  dnea- 
ei  §e  xai  7tpo0fi%£7toi£v,  /wd/la  SovhoTtpEneg  <n, 
xai  xohaxevrtxov  xai  vavva,  7t&$  OISL,  fiapslg  ovveg  xai  vnep- 
QTlTai  Ttapd  tov  (3iov ; 

Un^autem  omnes  puniebantur,  reges,  servi,  satrapse,  pauperes,  di- 
vites,  mendici ;  cunctosque  poenitebat  patratorum  ;  nonnullos  agno- 
vimus  etiam  conspicati,  eorum  de  numero  scilicet  qui  nuper  vitam 
fmierant;  illi  vero  prae  pudore  vultus  tegebant  seseque  averte- 
bant ;  quod  si  forte  respicerent,  valde  quidem  servilem  in  modum, 
atque  adulatorie,  illi  ipsi,  qui  fuerant  quam  putas  graves  et  su- 
perbi  aliorum  contemtores  in  hac  vita. 
Deorum  Comitia: 

Momus :  *  *  *  roiyapovv  ol  ZxvOai  xai  ol  Terai  ravra 
airt&v,  {taxod  nulv  %aipeiv  eiTtovtsg,  avrol  aTtaOava- 
xai  Ssovs  xsiporovovaw,  ovg  dv  e$ehr>tao0i,  rov  avrov 
bvnsp  xai  Zd^o^tg,  oovhog  &v,  Ttaosveypdtiv,  ovx 

rt)    n  >  )  /  i        T  < 

OLO  o 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

Proinde  Scythse  ac  Getse  hsec  illorum  videntes,  longum  nobis 
valere  jussis,  immortalitati  se  donant,  et  deos  quoscunque  voluerint 
feris  suffrages  consalutant,  eodem  modo  quo  Zamolxis  etiam, 
servus  cum  esset,  in  album  nescio  quomodo  delitescens,  irrepsit. 

Demosthenes.     Leipsic  Ed.  1829,  in  4  vols.     Vol.  i. 

Olynthiac  2d.  *  *  *  n  og  ol  napd  typ  airt&v  d%iav  8e8ov- 
/tco^g^ot  Qettahoi  vvv  ovx  dv  shevOspoi  yevoivto  dGftevot  — 
which  Leland  translates  thus  :  *  *  *  "  or  that  the  Thessalians, 
who  have  been  so  basely,  so  undeservedly  enslaved,  would  not 
gladly  embrace  their  freedom." 

P.  70.  -  or  6  Aaxe§ai[tovioi$  xa^aSov^ov^evoig,  &c. 

Philippic  4th,  p.  142. 

p.  148. 

yevea- 

Sel. 
Idem,  p.  149.  -  Soi^/lc.)  8e,  rttyyal,  xai  o  vov  crw^aTog 

xucr^og'  &c. 

Idem,  p.  158.     *     *     *     vrtohotrtov  Sovheveiv. 

Idem.  -  oiSe  /ap  dxpiS&c,  bti  Sovhsveiv  {lev  v^itis  ovv* 


Idem,  p.  159.  -  vTt/iydyeVo  e!$  tnv  vvv   TtapovGav   SOD- 


On  the  Treaty  with  Alexander,  p.  22T.    *    *    * 
ye  Sovheveiv  dvri  ttiv  dp^rpow^r'cw. 

Idem,  p.  229.  -  tov  8*  el$  Sovhslav  dyovvd  [is,  &c. 

De  Corona,  p.  208.    -  TioTep'   wg    6    TtaTTjp   Gov, 
eSov^eve  nap  'E^Tt/a  ro  Ttpog  rai  QyiGetc*  ^ddxov 

,  &c. 

Idem.  -  d;U'  cog   6  rp^par^g  ®op[iiav,  o  Aiuvog 
£apptov  Sov^og,  &c. 

Idem,  p.  289.  -  <knr'  £%,EV&epo$  ex  Sov^ov,  xai,  &c. 
Idem,  p.  309.  -  roig  "E^yi^ag  x 
Idem,  p.  315.  -  npoaOsfievYiv  dafyahtig 
Idem,  p.  316.  -  Si  btov  SovhevaovG  iv 
Idem.  -  6  &s  xal  ^   TtarptSi   vrtep  TTOT)  pn  tavvriv  in- 
elv  Sovhevovaav  dTio&vrfixsiv  J3-e/Lricret?  xal  ^ofepayrgpag 
rag  r'^petg  xal  rag  ait  1(110$,  dg  ev  SOV^EVOVGYI  ty 
dvdyxri  rot)  Savdrov. 


520  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

Idem,  p.  343,  (in  the  Epitaph.)  -   —  o>g  fin  %vyov  av%evi  Ssv- 

Tfg    SoV^OGVVyS,    &C. 

Idem,  p.  345.  -  aog  Sovhovg  87toiY]aav. 

Oratio  de  Falsa  Legatione,  vol.  ii.  p.  37.  -  d/l/ld  So  vh  ev 
ens,  xal  fe&vavcu  rw  <J>6(3c>,  xal  roig  ®y](3aiov$,  xal  <roig 
<I>t/U'7t7tot>  %evov$} 
xara  xG)[ia$,  xal 

Idem,  p.  54.  -  xai  ^dp  rot,  Ttpdiroi' 
viisvspav,    ^OV^YIV   xaveGryiGEv,  nv   Tore   GV[i[iaL%ov 
xal  tyikriv  eypa/^ev. 

Idem,  p.  60.  -  a>oV  8X£ivo$  o 
&OLL  rotg  dno  r 

Idem,  p.  78.  -  ort  TaiJ-ra  [izv  avtti  Gvvfiei 
xal  £oi>/log  YI 

Idem,  p.  95.     TS/leyeia 
Etg  5e  xaxr^v  ra^ 
"H  cnrdcrii'  e'lxputov,  nofa^ov  &  evSovr*  e 

"0$  7tQ%h&v  eparrp  totedev  rfaixiriv. 

Idem,  p.  97.  -  ol  /ap  sv  ratg  Ttofacn  yvapt,(iGrtaeto(,9  xal 
Ttposavdvai  ro^   xoiv&v  aJstovfisvot,,  tnv  avf&v 
itev&epiav,  ol  Svcyrv^e^g,  avSaiperov 

fyihtav,  xal  fceviaVy  xal  ifcupiav,  xal 


Oratio  adversus  Leptinem,  p.  174.  -  7tc5g  ^dp  ov%i  xal  xata 
Seivofarf  dv  7te7to^3-6)g  6  Xappiag  ty&veiyi,  el  {in  {tovov 
tolg  rd  rota^ra  Tto/ltrefo^s^otg  TOV  exeivov  Sov- 
AvxiSav  rtpo&vov  v^epov  Ttertoivjxevai,  &Xti  el  xal  5ta 
toirtov  ndhiv  t&v  sxslvc)  <n 
atfiav 


Oratio  contra  Midiam,  p.  207.  -  xai  Totfaik'y? 
£3g  ^oii/loi'  v(3pi£"Q  <ng? 

*    *    ensign  Se  evpev  ovx  e 

Ttpog  5oi)/loi'?  ^>7^'  o/lwg  eO-elvai  Ttpattelv  eTt&tafcev. 
P.  208.  Noftog.  —  3Ea^  <rtg  vfipfay  ei$  nva,  n  nal&a,  n  yv- 
valxa,  TI  d^Spa,  rdiv  J/lf^pco^  ri  rwv  Sov/l6)^? 
<n  Ttot/icry/  ff'g  Tot'Tcjv  Ti^d,  ^pacj^cr^a)  Ttpog  rovg 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  521 


ov[iEvo$        y]vaLttv,  ofg  e^eGfLV.  *     dxovefe,  (o 

dvopsg  'A&yjvaloi,  tov  VOLIOV  trig  fyi'kavS'QttTttag,  6g  ovSe  fov$ 


P.  209.  -  oftfog  oi)5'  OGUV  dv  fitinv  xafaSevfeg 


P.  210.  -  'ATtoX/Um  d.7toTpo7ta/6)  (3ovv  ^vGau,  mi  Gtefya- 
vyjfyoQelv  ehev^spovg  xai  Sovhovg,  xai  shivveiv  (iiav  yi(ie 

Idem,  p.  253.  -  rvTttew,  d/l^la  ryiv  £7ti  trig  7to(i7tfi$ 
roi) 
Tolg 

Oratio  adversus  Androtionem,  p.  293.  -  i^tep  fov  ph  To 
(Tw^a  a^oijg  el  g  to  ^cr^corTiptor  €>^ecr3at?  ri  ct/l/la  dtiffl^ovotyj, 
d  Sovhov,  ovx  efav&epavy  sariv  spy  a,  &c. 

xai  [wp,  EL  SehoLfe  cr^g-^acr^at,  ti   ftovhov,  n 
v  elvcu,  Sta^pei,  ToijTro  [leyiGtov  dv  svporte, 


eat  i. 

Idem,  p.  295.  -  Ttotep'  ovv  oha&e  tovtov  sxatitov 
xai    Ttohs^elv   amrw,   Std   TTI^  dtityopdv  tavtyiv,   r\   tov  per 
of  i,  ndvttiv  dxovovtcav  v^cov.,  ev  TQ  Srifia)  Sov^ov  £^»77 

t  €^  Sovhov   elvaiy  xal  rtpoarixetv  avtti  to  s'xfov  /ws 


Idem,  p.  298.  -  «  ^ap  di'SpaTtoSG)!'  Tto^tg,  d/l/la  ^ri 
dp%etv  eTfi'pcw  diziovvttiv,  &(jto^joyelfe  sivai,  ovx  dv,  a> 
eg  'A^z^atot,  Tag  iJ/Jpetg  ^fiO^eo&e  tag  TOI'JTOI;,  dg 
dyopav  v(3pt%ev,  o^oO  (tEtoixov$,  9A&wcuov$,  feu 
(3otiv  h  t  alg  exxtya  LOLLS,  «7ti  fov  (IriLiatog,  Sov^ovg  xal  ex 
Sovhuv  xahtiv,  eavtov  (3efaiov$,  xai  ex  fiehtiovtiv,  eput&v. 
Idem,  p.  299.  -  <-vvv  $  eni  talg  efcr^opatg,  6  otxaLOv  SG& 
op/crag,  Lin  GOL  rtiGteveiv,  aX/ld  Totg  aiTrjg  5  o  v  /I  o  t  g?  fnv  nohiv, 
oTtot  d/l/lo  Tt  Ttpdttuv,  &c. 

Oratio  adversus  Timocratem,  vol.  iii.  p.  128.  -  xal  ydp  exsi- 
o)  ch^psg  Sixaatai,  ocrot  dv  efav&epot,  yevuvtaL,  ov  trig 


avfog 

Idem,  p.  133.  -  el  ovv  LCYI  ftLJUjprtfYiG^e  fovfovg,  ovx  dv 
to  Tt/lr^og  TorTotg  Totg  ^>7p/otg  oovhevov. 


522  STUDIES   ON  SLAVERY. 


Idem,  p.  141.  -  xai  [inv  el  §&orte  cfxe^aa^ai  nap 
avrolg,  o)  dvopeg  Sixaatal,  ti  Sovhov,  n  ehsv&soov  etvai  oia- 
TOIJTO  fiEylatov  dv  evporte,  oTt  Toig  (iev  oov^oig  TO 

d8Lxyj(idr<^v  dndvtuv  vTtsv&vvov  Icm,  To£g  5' 
vatavov  tovto  n^odnxei  xohd%etv. 

Oratio  III.  adversus  Aphobum,  p.  242.  -  xaifoi  sly1  YI 

d^pcoTtog,  xal  fin  Ttpow^oXo^ro   Ttpog 
fVat,  &c. 
Idem,  p.  243.  -  d/l/la  xai  Sovhov  zlvai  vov  dv 


Idem,  p.  247.  -  StoTtsp    Toig    6[io%oyov[j,8vcd$ 
7iapa/2ag,  Toi'  gylev^fpov  n^iov  (3aaavt%etv,  ov  ovS*  OGLOV  Ttapa- 
5owat?  &c. 

Oratio  I.  adversus  Onetorem,  p.  266.  -  xaiortoVav 
xai  efav^epoi  rtapaysvovvai,  Se/j  6'  evpeSnvat  to  fy 
ov  ^PTICT^  talg  v&v  ehevSeocw  [laovvoiais,  d/lXd  tovc, 

fyvslve  ^nv  dhv&eiav  svoslv 


cog  o^%  dX>73^  Ta  £  x  1%  (3aadvov 
eirtov. 

Oratio  in  Phormionem,  vol.  iv.  p.  13.  -  vvv  $  ovx  s^ioi, 
d/l/l'  iv  BocTTtopG),  xai  Ty;g  Gvyyoa^g  aoi  xsi^tvr^ 
xai  Ttpog  J^€?  ^ai,  6)  To  ^pi;cr/oi'  aTteS^ovg,  oVTog 
ai  7t€/loc}/og  To^oiiTo^  ^/l^lo^Tog  nfaiv, 


Oratio  in  Pantsenetum,  p.  80.  -  T/g  ^dp  TtQTtoTe  Tw 
Toi)  5ov>loi;  Ta  Ttpdj/^aTa,  wcrTtep  xvolov, 


Oratio  in  Macartatum,  p.  173.  -  gTtoc^^g^eti'  os,  Tteol 
oovhav  To>  SectTttft     Ttsol  $s  v&v  efavS-etiv  Totg 


Oratio  in  Stephanum,  I.  p.  217.  -  ^a^'creTat  j/dp  o^  Tta- 
Tpog,  t^tep  rtgoi'  ^pd^oi'Tog,  soixvla  ow&rixy,  d/lXd  ^ot'/loi; 
fahvpaGfievov  Ta  Ta^  fe^TtoTw^j  oTtcog  ^  ^QCTet  S('x)7V  Gxortovv- 
Tog. 

Idem,  p.  231.  -  xai  «  (iev  Ttevrig  ovTog  ^;  ^e^g  <5'  ei' 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  523 


xal  Gvvefiyi  ti  TtaSelv,  ofa  7io/l/ld,  «^ot, 
ol  TtalSeg  dv  ol  tovtov  Tcoi>  e{i&v  Svyaveptiv  e&ixd^ovvo,  ol  tov 


Toi)   SeGTtoVov     *     *     *     ovTog  &  av  tovvav- 


ToV  SectTtovqv  6  So  v  /log  4£eTa£et?  c5g  &fara  Ttovypov  xal 

ex  VOVVCAV  ent&etfaw. 

Idem,  p.  234.  -  ovtov  yap  YI^&V  Voiovttev,  6rtoiov$ 
dv  xai  <3v  xa<raax8vdc?Yis  rw  /lo^Q,  Gv  5oi)/log  ^cr^a. 

Idem,  p.  235.  -  xal  Seopai  xai  dvftif3oh&  xai  i 
vrtepiSyve  fie  xai  rag  ^/arfpag,  St3  svSeiav  Totg  epavrov 
>lo  tg,  xal  Totg  tovroi)  xo^a^iv  em^dptovg  yevo[isvovs.    * 
exelvoi,  8  oi>  /log  S3  o&rog  ^,  ^edTtoTat  5*  f 


Oratio  in  Timotheum,  p.  312.  -  6  Ss  oirfe  paprvptav 

i&  c5g  Sovhov  rov  AiG%piQva  TtapaSovg,  ex 
Tog  TOT;  sfay%(n>  rfeiav  ysvea&ai,  ^o/Joi'^ei'og,  dv  fiev 
ptav  napdtifflrai,  cog  e?iEV$epov  oVTog,  &c. 

Sophocles,  Electra,  line  814  : 


ev 


This  Francklin  translates  thus  :  "Left  at  last,  a  slave  to  those 
whom  most  on  earth  I  hate." 

Antigone,  line  202.  -  Toig  Se  Sou/lcucrag  dyew. 
Francklin  thus  —  "And  made  you  slaves." 
Idem,  line  478. 


fie  y*  ocrTtg  Sod  /log  JcrTt 
Thus  —  "  'Tis  not  for  slaves  to  be  so  haughty." 

Idem,  line  517.  -  ov  ydp  T6  Soi)/log,  d/l/l3  (i 
Thus  —  "He  was  a  brother,  not  a  slave." 

Idem,  line  756.  -  yvvaLxog  &v 
Thus  —  "  Think  not  to  make  me  thus  thy  scorn  and  laughter, 
thou  woman's  slave." 

Ajax,  line  489.  -  viiv  §3  el  p.  Sov^. 

Thus  —  "  Though  now  a  wretched  slave." 

499.  _   —%\n>  TtaiSitci)  cro-  Sovhiav  e%eiv  tpofyrp. 

Thus  —  "And  thy  loved  son  shall  eat  the  bread  of  slavery." 


524  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


1020.  -   —  8ovho$  MyoiGiv  d^r'  efav&pov 

Francklin  thus  —  "And  to  slavery  doomed." 

1235.  -  tavr'  ovx  dxoveiv  [leydha  Ttpog  Sovhov  xaxa; 

Thus  —  "  Shall  we  be  thus  insulted  by  our  slaves  ?" 

1289.  -  6  §oi)  /log,  6  sx  T%  (3ap(3dpov  py-rpog  yey&g. 

Thus  —  "I  am  a  slave,  born  of  a  barbarian  mother." 

Oedipus  Tyrannus,  line  1062  — 

crv  [izv  ^dp,  ov&  dv  sx  <rpnr>7g  eyo 
P7<rp6g  <2>a?;(i)  <rp/  Sou/log,  exfyavel  xaxri. 

Thus  —  "  Were  I  descended  from  a  race  of  slaves,  'twould  not 
dishonour  thee." 

1123.  -  n  SotJ^log,  ovx  QvyjVog,  d/l/l3  ofoot  rpa^)e/g. 

Thus  —  "Although  I  am  a  slave,  yet  I  was  not  purchased,  but 
born  and  reared  up  in  his  house." 

1168.  -  YIV  Sovhog,  n  xstvov  tic,  eyyevrig  ysy&S', 
Thus  —  "Was  he  the  son  of  a  slave;  if  not,  of  whom?" 
Oedipus  Coloneus,  line  917  — 

xal  ^ot  Ttofav  xsvavfyov  n  Sovhyv  rtvd 

eSo^ag  eivai. 

Francklin  thus  —  "  Or  didst  thou  think  I  valued  a  desert  land, 
or  that  my  people  were  a  race  of  slaves  ?" 

Trachinise,  line  53.  -  Sov/latg,  female  slaves. 

Line  63— 

Ji§s  yap  yvvn 

SOV^YI  [isv,  iipyxsv  tf  efav&epov  %6<yov. 
Francklin  thus  —  "This  woman,  though  a  slave,  hath  spoken 
what  would  have  well  become  the  mouth  of  freedom's  self  to  utter." 

257.  -  %vv  Ttaitii  xal  yvvaixi  SovhtiGziv  eti. 
Thus  —  "  And  bind  in  slavery  his  wife  and  all  his  race." 

267.  _  (ptivel  §£,  §oi)/log  d^Spog  wg  efavS-spov 

paiorto. 

Francklin  thus  —  "And  said  a  slave  like  him  should  bend  be 
neath  a  freeman's  power." 

283.  -  TtoXtg  Se  Sovhy. 

iG%ovtiw  @lw. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  525 


Philoctetes,  line  995  — 

01  {toi  <rd/lag.  ri 

Ttar/ip  dp3  eizsfpvaev,  oi'§3  l 
Aristophanes,  Ranse  (Batrachoi),  line  191  — 

Sovhov  ovx  dyed, 

EL  (jtri  V£vav[id%Yix6  rriv  Ttepi  rt&v  xpe&v 
531.  -  o>g  Soii  /log  &v  xal 
541.  -  si  p.av$i 
584.  -  Soi)/log  d^oc  xai 
632.  -  dSkxmTog  ffva/'  <J»7ftt  Atowo'og 


694. 

742.  -  on,  SoiJ/log  c3v,  efyaGxeg  elvcui 

743.  -  rorro    Ewtoi,  Sovhueov 


949.  -  ^    fi^cyev  ri  yw>    T    f^o 


Aves  (Ornithes),  line  69.  --  opmg 

Line  763— 

<roi)  ^t/lyi^o^og  yevovg 

el  Se  So  £  /log  ecm  Kap,  &c. 
911.  --  gTtetra 


Equites  (Hyppes),  line  44— 

ovrog  r^  Ttporapa  vovpyvto: 


Lysistrate,  line  330. 
Acharnenses,  401  — 

6^3  6  5oi)Xog 
Vespse  (Sphekes),  517  — 


nave  Sovhelav 
dp^co  v&v  aTtdwov. 
Line  602— 

^V  Soviet  av  ovGav  s<$aaxe$  yv 
Line  681— 

^ot  rnv  Soviet  av  o^  dnofyatvov  d 
ov    a  tiey&toi  Soviet  a  *anv,  toirtovg  [lev  aTta^TTag  «i/  dp^atg  , 


626  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

Thesmophoriazusae,  line  537  — 

avral  ye  xai  ta  <5ou/ldpta,  &c. 

564.  -  ovtf  tig  cri,  7%  Soi>/l>7$ 
Ecclesiazusae,  line  651.  -  ol 

Line  721— 

xai  rag  ye 


d/l/ld  Ttapd  rolg  Soi/lottft 
xaVttvdxy  rov  %olpov 

Homer,  Iliad  iii.  407  — 

L  GoiGi  TtoSeGGiv 
3  alel  Ttepi  XEIVOV  OL^VE,  xai  e 


Which  Pope  has  paraphrased  thus  — 

"  A  handmaid  goddess  at  his  side  to  wait, 
Renounce  the  glories  of  thy  heavenly  state, 
Be  fix'd  for  ever  to  the  Trojan  shore, 
His  spouse,  or  slave,  and  mount  the  skies  no  more." 

Iliad  vi.  460— 

ftSe  yvvn,  b$  apiGVE 
irt7toSd[i(dv,  bvs  "Yhiov  d 
Ttove  Vic,  epSEC  Goi  §'  av  vsov  £crcrerat 
toiovtf  di-^pog,  dpvvEt 

We  should  be  happy  to  see  the  exquisite  tenderness  of  the  original 
transferred  into  English.  We  offer  :  —  "  This  is  the  wife  of  Hector, 
the  bravest  of  the  horse-taming  Trojans,  when  our  people  fought 
about  Ilion.  Thus  perchance  some  one  will  say  :  and  this  will  be 
to  thee  a  fresh  sorrow,  to  feel  the  want  of  thy  husband  to  ward 
off  the  day  of  slavery." 

Odyssey  xiv.  339— 

'A/l/l3  ore  yaiYig  noh'hov  dnen^  novronopog  vyjv$, 
Avrixa  Sovhiov  Ti^ap  efioi  Ttepi^^avoGivro. 

Pope  thus  — 

"  Soon  as  remote  from  shore  they  plough  the  wave, 
With  ready  hands  they  rush  to  seize  the  slave." 


STUDIES  ON   SLAVERY.  527 

Odyssey  xxii.  421  — 

Tievtyxovrd  rot  eltiiv  evi  {teydooiGi  yvvalxeg 
Apoat,  <rdg  fisv  r3  epya  SiSdt;a{tev  gp^d^ecrSat, 
Ei  ptd  re  %aivs  iv,  xal  SovhoGvvqg  dvs%eG&ai. 
Pope  thus  — 

"  Then  she:   In  these  thy  kingly  walls  remain 
(My  son)  full  fifty  of  the  handmaid  train  ; 
Taught  by  my  care  to  cull  the  fleece  or  weave, 
And  servitude  with  pleasing  tasks  deceive." 
Euripides,  Iphigenia  in  Tauris,  line  130— 


Sov  ha  (a  slave) 

Line  451.  -  &ov^£ia$  efieS-ev  Ssihaiag 
Potter  thus  —  "And  bid  the  toils  of  slavery  cease." 
Troades  (Trojan  Dames),  line  140  — 


"  I,  an  old  woman,  am  led  from  my  home  a  slave." 

Idem,  159.  -  Sovheiav 
"Bemoan  their  slavery." 

186.  -  rd>  TtpoGxetftai  Sovha 
"Assigned  a  slave,"  &c. 

197.  -  Sop/lercTG)  ^pavg. 
"An  old  woman  enslaved." 

214.  -  evS*  d^rdcrG)  Mei^/la 
"Exposed  me  a  slave  to  Menelaus." 
Idem,  235— 

8  o  i>  h  a  i  yap  Sri 
Aop/Sog  server  %3o^6$  T^YI. 
"  We  are  slaves  of  the  Dorian  land,  even  now." 

284.  -  <£>Gm  Sov  heveiv. 
"I  am  enslaved,"  &c. 

599.  -  %vyd  &  ftvvae  Sovhia  fpola. 
"  Troy  yields  to  the  yoke  of  slavery." 

615    -   —  «s  Sovhov 
"  Is  sunk  in  slavery." 
661 


528  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

Idem,  678- 

va,vGdtov(icu  8s  syv 

Tipog  cE^/ldS3  ou^d^rog  «g  Sov^ov  %vyov. 
"I  go  by  sea  to  Greece,  a  prisoner  of  war,  to  a  yoke  of 
slavery.'' 

957.  -  xeivqs  Ss  Sovhog  ean. 
"But  is  her  slave." 

971.  -  rtixp& 
"Harshly  enslaved." 

1341.  -  iV  S7tl 

Sovheiov  apepav  (3tov. 

Bacchae,  366.  -  yap  TQ  A(6$  Sovhsvteov. 

803.  -  rl  ^pQ^ra;  Sovhevovva  Sovheiai$ 

Potter  thus  —  "  What  should  I  do  ?  be  to  my  slaves  a  slave  ?" 

1028.  -  0$  ere  (TT'evd^G),  SoiJ/log  &v  [tev,  d/U/ 

Xpyiavolai  Sovhoi$  ovpfyopd  rd 
Potter  thus  — 

"  How  I  lament  thee,  though  a  slave  ;  yet  slaves, 
If  faithful,  mourn  the  ruin  of  their  lords." 

Cyclops,  76  — 

syo  83,  6  (Tog  TtpocTTto/log, 


Sov/log  Q&OUVQV  Gvv  t 
Helena,  283— 


xa 

OVG3  f/effG)^  GLTtO. 


td  (3ap(3dpttv  ^dp  Sovha  Ttdvra,  Tthnv  hog. 
Potter  thus  — 

"  Of  friends  deprived, 

I,  from  the  free  who  draw  my  generous  blood, 
Am  made  a  slave;  for  'mong  barbarians  all 
Are  slaves,  save  one." 


299. 

xqv  told  i  Sovhoig  8v6rtpe7ts  g 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  529 

Potter  thus  — 

"  The  pendent  cord 

Disgraces  ;  even  in  slaves  it  is  deemed  base." 

Line  728- 

I^Q  [tev  iiYjv,  xsl  7t8<pv% 
ev  tfotcrt  yevvaioidiv  r( 


OVX 


vovv  §e'  xpsiGGov  yap  votf  n  Svolv  xaxolv 
ovta  ^pyfrSou,  rag  Qpwag  t*  e%etv  xaxdg, 
t9  dxovsiv  Sovhov  ovta  ttiv  nehag. 

Potter  thus  — 

"It  is  my  wish, 

Though  born  a  slave,  among  the  generous  slaves 
To  be  accounted,  bearing  a  free  mind, 
If  not  the  name  ;  for  better  this  I  deem, 
Than  two  bad  things,  to  harbour  a  base  mind, 
And  hear  from  those  around  the  name  of  slave." 

We  deem  this  translation  defective,  because  it  makes  no  dis 
tinction  between  the  ideas  conveyed  by  the  words  Xdrptg  and 
<5oivto$.  True,  at  this  late  day,  the  passage  is  somewhat  obscure. 
But  the  speaker  was  not  a  slave  :  he  says  he  was  born  a  Xd/rptg  — 
a  character  far  less  elevated  than  the  &ovhog,  yet  a  freeman,  but 
possessing  a  greater  servility  of  mind  than  even  the  doulos,  and 
his  condition  often  far  more  abject.  The  slave  possessed  the  pro 
tection  of  his  master  ;  but  the  latris,  with  all  the  destitution  and 
degradation  incident  to  the  lowest  conditions  of  the  freeman,  often 
coveted  the  happier  condition  of  the  doulos.  The  idea  conveyed 
by  this  messenger  is  literally  this  :  "  Although  born  a  latris,  I  had 
rather  be  considered  among  the  home-born  slaves,  not  having  the 
name  of  freedom,  than  to  have  merely  the  name  ;  for  I  consider 
this  a  good  choice  between  the  two  evils  —  the  being  supposed  to 
have  the  base  mind  of  the  latris,  and  the  being  truly  called  a  slave 
by  those  near  us."  The  substance  is,  he  had  rather  be  a  doulos 
than  a  latris. 

That  he  was  not  a  slave  is  evident  from  what  follows  in  the  797th 
line,  where  Menelaus  calls  him  emphatically  his  prospolon,  merely 
an  attendant. 


1630.  -  d/Ud  SeGTtot&v  KparTitfetg,  Sov^og  &v, 
Potter  —  "  Slave  as  thou  art,  wilt  thou  control  thy  lord?" 

'34 


530  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

Idem,  1640. 


7tp 

Totcrt  yevvaioiGi  $  o  v  X  o  i  g  6  vxfaeGVdtov  Savelv. 
"  To  home-born  slaves,  it  is  glory  to  die  for  their  masters." 
Ion,  line  132.  -  S-eoicTt  Sovhav 
"  To  be  a  slave  to  the  gods." 

182.  -  <£o//:?6>  SOV^EVGU,  &c. 

327.  -  Toig  rov  3-eoiJ  xo 

556.  -  ix7tE<pEvya[A8V  TO 

761.  -  Sovhevpa  mavov,  &c. 

837.  -  sx  Sov^y^g  Vivog,  &c. 

854.  -  ev  /dp  Tt  Totg  5oi;>lo6(76r?  &c. 

855.  -  rovvo[ia'  TO,  5'  d/l/loc  ndvra  t&v  e 

ov&iis  xaxiov  Sov^og,  ocrrtg  Icr^/log  f. 
Potter— 

"It  is  the  name  ;  in  all  else  than  the  free 
The  slave  is  nothing  worse,  if  he  be  virtuous." 

983.  -  enidYi^iov  o  <povog,  xal  TO  Sov^ov  d 
Potter  —  "  An  open  murder,  and  with  coward  slaves." 

1109.  -  r/  <§'  €OyTt^?  G)  !;vv$ovhe; 
"What  is  the  matter,  my  fellow-slave?" 

Hercules,  190.  -  dWip  oTt^it^g  Sou/log  JcTTi 
Potter— 

"  -  the  man  array'd  in  arms 
Is  to  his  arms  a  slave." 

Electra,  110.  -  Sovhyjg  yvvaixog,  female  slave. 

633.  -  Sovhtiv  /dp  iSiov  ToOTo,  (Sol  Se 

Potter  —  "  Such  the  slave's  nature,  but  this  favours  thee.' 

Line  898- 

aog  /dp  lo'Tt  vvv 


"He  is  thy  slave  now." 
Medea,  line  54  — 

XpYiarolGi  Sovhoig  ^f^od  TO, 

xaxtig  rtivvovva  xal  fppsv& 
"  Slaves  who  are  faithful,  suffer  in  the  afflictions  of  their  mas 
ters." 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  531 


65.  -  ^ri,  Ttpog  yevEiov,  xpvnte  avvoovhov  G 
"Now  by  this  beard,  deceive  not  by  secrecy  thy  fellow-slave." 

Hecuba,  line  234— 

el  o'  s'Gti  tolg  SovhoiGi  tovg 
{in  hvrtpd  p?§£  xapolag 
l^cnropyfrat,  croi 

nfidg  &  dxovaai  tovg  Jporai^rag  rd 
Potter  thus  — 

"  But  may  slaves  be  permitted  of  the  free 
TO  ask  —  I  mean  no  rudeness,  no  reproach  — 
But  may  we  ask  ?     And  wilt  thou  answer  us  ?" 

247.  -  ti  &rr'  £U£as,  §01^0$  &v  s^og  tote; 

Potter  —  "  What  didst  thou  say,  when  thou  wast  then  my  slave?" 

Idem,  291— 

ro^o$  S'  ev 

xai  tola  $ovhoi$  ai^iatog 

Potter  thus  — 

"  The  laws  of  blood 

Are  equal  to  us  slaves,  and  you  our  lords." 
331.  -  alal'  to  ooithov  og  xaxov  Ttefyvxsvai. 
"Ah  well,  how  great  the  evil  to  have  become  a  slave!" 

356.  -  vvv  o'  el{ii 
"But  I  am  now  a  slave." 

Idem,  365— 

Se  ta^LCL  &ovho$  uvytog  Tlo 


"  And  then,  a  female  stewardess,  a  slave  purchased  somewhere, 
shall  defile  my  bed." 

Idem,  444— 

ai'pa,  7tovtiOL$  arpotj 

ate  TtovtoTtooovg 
6od$  dxdtovg  eri 
Ttol  ^e  tdv 

Ttpbg  oixov 


ri  Aop/Sog  bp[iov 


532      •  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

Potter— 

"  Tell  me,  ye  gales,  ye  rising  gales, 

That  lightly  sweep  along  the  azure  plain, 
Whose  soft  breath  fills  the  swelling  sails, 

And*wafts  the  vessel  dancing  o'er  the  main  ; 
Whither,  ah  !  whither  will  ye  bear 
This  sickening  daughter  of  despair  ? 
What  proud  lord's  rigour  shall  the  slave  deplore, 
On  Doric  or  on  Phthian  shore?" 


495.  -  a&tiq  Ss  Sovhy,  /patfg,  ctTtoug,  eni 
XOVSL  <£>rpot>  era  ^VG^YIVOV  xdoa 


Potter— 

"  Herself  a  slave,  old,  childless,  on  the  ground 
She  lies,  and  soils  her  hoar  head  in  the  dust." 

741.  -  d>l/l3  EI  [IE  ^OV^YIV  Ttotefiiav  O1  n 

yovdrcw  aTtQcrcttr',  atyo$  av 
Potter— 

"  But  should  he  treat  me  as  a  slave,  a  foe, 
And  spurn  me,  I  should  add  to  my  afflictions," 

757.  -  ov  &?ra'  vovg  xaxovc;  $£ 

al&va  ^QV  fflpnavta 
Potter— 

"  Not  freedom,  but  revenge  ;  revenge  on  baseness  : 
Grant  me  revenge,  and  let  me  die  a  slave." 

798.  -  7i(j.elg  [tsv  ovv  Sovhot  ts  xaG&EVEl$  iGog. 
Potter  —  "  But  we  are  slaves,  but  we  perchance  are  weak 

809.  -  tvpavvos  YIV  not',  d/l/ld  vvv  S'ovhq 
Potter  —  "Erewhile  I  was  a  queen,  but  now  a  slave." 

Idem,  864— 

ovx  gem  Sv^tQv  ocTT'tg  SCTT'  &ev0spo$' 

dp  §  o  v  /1  6  g  tGtiv  n 
airrov  Ttoheog  n 
prjcrflou  {in  xavd 
Potter— 

"  Vain  is  the  boast  of  liberty  in  man  : 
A  slave  to  fortune  or  a  slave  to  wealth, 
Or  by  the  people  or  the  laws  restrained, 
He  dares  not  act  the  dictates  of  his  will." 


i 

STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  533 


1252.  -  oi[ioi,  yvvatxog,  o> 

Sov/l»7g,  i^)€^G)  Toig  xaxloctiv 
Potter— 

"  What  !  from  these  wretches  shall  I  suffeitthus, 
Defeated  by  a  woman  and  a  slave  ?" 

Phoenissse,  line  94.  -  o>g  Sovhu,  as  a  slave. 

7  V  « 

189.  -  Sovheiav  rtepifiahtev. 

"To  lead  in  slavery." 

192.  -  Sot^oo'uj'ai'  rXan?*'.  'Jft 

"To  suffer  slavery." 

205.  -  <&oi(3c>  So  Ma.     "  Slave  to  Phoebus."    ^-% 

1606.  -  d/l/ld  SoiAeOtfcu  <T£  pe  —  |lo^i5/3ov/-^ 

"  Slave  to  Polybus,"  &c. 

Orestes,  line  221.  -  (Soi  TTO  S  o  v  /I  £  w  £  nSv,  xovx  dvauvopai. 

Idem,  715  — 

-  vvv  $  dvwyxaiug  s%ei 

SovhoiG  iv  elvoLL  rotg  (To^otcrt  trig 

937.  —  —n  yvvatizi  SOV^SVSLV 
Potter  —  "Vile  slaves  to  your  wives. 

1H5.    -  OV&8V  TTO  80V^OV    7tp6$ 

Such  was  the  reply  of  Pylades  to  his  friend  Orestes,  in  reference 
to  the  Phrygian  slave  ;  and  we  shall  close  our  quotations  from  this 
remarkable  tragic  poet,  with  an  interview  between  Orestes  and  one 
of  these  Phrygian  slaves. 

Line  1522- 

Orestes.  Aovho  g  &v  fyofid  rov  'AiSyiv,  og  a'  (X7ta/l/ld^t  xax&v  ; 
Slave.  Tldg  avvip,  xav  Soi)^o 

Potter— 

Orestes.  "  Fears  a  slave  death,  the  end  of  all  hip  ills  ? 
$Zave.  "  To  slave  or  free,  sweet  is  the  light  of  heaven." 

Alcestes,  line  638- 

Sov  hiov 

^acrr^  yvvaixog  cr%  wtefiT 
Potter  —  "  But,  the  base  offspring  of  some  slave,  thy  wife  stole 
me,  and  put  me  to  her  breast." 

We  find  the  following  in  a  short  notice  of  the  life  of  Isocrates, 
by  Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus. 


534  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

Page  23.  -  SiSdcfxei  $3  (5g  ov  MecTO^/otg  tfofg  ovxev3  ovGiv, 
d/l/ld  Sovhoig  xal  SI^UGLV  oppyTriptoz'  xal  xatatyvyrw 
7tapsl;ovfy  trip  rtofav. 

Also,  page  26.  -  Sovhevs  i  yap  n  Sidvoia  Tto/l/lcwag  rti 
pvOfiti  re  /Is^aog,  mi  TW  xo^ov  fatrtetai  to  a^Y$i'vov. 

Idem,  35.  -  ri^£$  Ss  xaVaSovhsvpsvoi,  xai  vdvavria 
rolg  tore  Ttpdrrovteg. 

Idem,  36.  -  xai  tots  {ikv  el  TptTJpstg  TfaYiyolev,  vovg  [iw 
gevovg  xai  Tovg  Sovhovg  mikag  d<3e6i6a%w,  <tov$ 


Isocrates,  (Cantabrigise,  1686,)  Orat.  ad  Demonicum,  page  52  — 
8v  Ss  tolg  feprtvolg,  dv  a!a%pov  vTtohdfiys,  f&v  (iev  olxsv&v 


Ad  Nicoclem,  p.  74.  -  xai  tovvo  nyoij    adi'hLXtoratov  sav 
q.  Sovhevyg  v&v  Y[$OV&V,  d/l/lct  xpatfyg  t&v  i 


YI  t&v 


Panegyricus,  p.  121.  -  V&v    §8 


o 


Idem,  133.  -  y?pom>ro  &8  v&v  eih&Wv  8vioi$ 

slg  rag  savttiv  Ttarp/feg  vS^eiv. 
Idem,  137.  -  vvv  §8  elc,  tocfavrYjv  Soviet  av 
Idem.  -  [isytGVov  Se  t&v  xax&v,  bvav  vrtkp  avtrig  ve 
^8  lag  dvayxdZwT'ai  avavpareveaOai. 

Idem.  -  xatfop&teGavvss  §s  ^d/l/lov  8i$  Vov  87t&0irtov 

VOV    SovhsVGOVGLV. 

Idem,  144.  -  Ttpog  {JLZV  vov  rt6fa[iov  sxfaMfisvog,  Ttpog  Ss 
Sovheiav  d^isLvov  v&vTtap  fi^lv  olxeforv  7t87taiS8V[i8vo$. 
Idem.  -  dnqwa  &8  vov  %$6vov  ^d^oDcr^,  og  y&v  rorg 

es,  Totg  §8 

Idem,  150.  -  ^txeMa  §8 

Idem,  151.  -  wg  vrt8p  rovvuv  Sovheveiv  f(WyxaG(isvcu. 
Idem,  153.  -  &7^ooYa  Se  vooovrovg  t&v 


Orat.  ad  Philippum,  p.  161.  -  fyrelv  $8  sxsivovg  *ov$  ro 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  535 


Archidamus,  p.  235.  -  vi>v  xal  triv  t&v  OOV^QV  7tapp>?- 
Giav  vTtopevovtag  tyalvsG^ai. 

De  Pace,  sive  Socialis,  page  281.  -  xal  tors  (JLW  el  rptripag 
tev,  tovg  {tiv  %evovg  xai  tovg  Sovhovg  vavtag  siGsffi- 


Idem,  p.  280.  -  vfistg  $e 
Idem,  p.  306.  -  ^rj    8ovheia$    d/l/ld 
altiav  <y6V£G$ai. 

Evagoras,  p.  310.  -  OTJ  IJL^V  Sovhevte  ov. 
Idem,  p.  320.  -  Tovg  [&v  (ptfiovg  tai$  evepyeaiaig  vn3  avtc 
toils  ^  d/l/lofg 


Idem,  p.  326.  -  ol  Ss  "E/l/b^eg  dvti   oovheiag   avtovo- 


Panathenaicus,  p.  396.  -  ovg  JJLW  S^SV^EDO^SLV  oj 
xdt  e  Sovh&Gavto  [ta'h'hov  rj  tovg  ei/lcoTag. 
Idem,  p.  400.  -  xal  to  [LY\  oixaiug  t&v  d/l/lo^  d 

tnv  cdtiav  tavtqv,  d&'^oc  AaxeSatuovtou; 


Idem,  p.  412.  -  tovg  Se 
GOai  Ttpog  {LBV  toiovtov  xoatiaaaai  pa&bg  dv  avtov. 
Idem,  p.  418.  -  xata&ov^QGa^evovg. 
Plataicus,  p.  459.  -  ol  [ikv  ovSev  rtftov  r&v  d 


Idem.  -  te  §s  t&v  dMaav  Sovhsiag  avtovg  xvoiovg  xa- 


Idem,  p.  463.  - 

Idem,  p.  465. 

Idem,  p.  466.  -  d/Gid  no^ovg  (isv  [ILXQ&V  svsxa  GV[i6ov- 

iov  Sovhsvovtag,  d/Uloug  §s  sm  ^yjteiav  tovtag. 

Orat.  de  Permutatione,  p.  493.  -  tr\v  8s  tti  ysvsi  trig 
GtitYiotag  altiav  ovGav,  Sovhsvsiv  avtolg  d^tovv. 

Idem,  p.  494.  -  t&v  §g  (3ao8doG)v  ol  (3ov%j6(jtfvoi  xata- 
bovhovG&ai  tovg  cE^nvag. 

Idem,  p.  502.  -  ^r'o^g  o3  dT^oig  twy  Sovhsiav  aloov^e- 
voig. 


536  STUDIES   ON   SLAVEKY. 

Toctg  uTtepe^oiicrcag 


Idem.  cocTTe  [J.YI  Toig  "E^yitiw  altiov  ysvn&ai  ti   Sov- 

/le/ag. 

Idem,  p.  510.  ri^erg  Ss  xaVaSovhovnevoi. 

Idem,  p.  511.  Toig  psv  fyvovc,  xal  Toug  Sovhov g. 

De  Bigis,  p.  530.  Toig  TtoXrrag  ISelv 

Epistolse :  to  Philip,  p.  611.  a  E£p£>7 

cracT^at  'T'oig  "E^^ag  fiovty^evVi. 

To   Jason,   a  freedman,  p.   629.  mi    Tag   Tt^dg 

G)  Tag  Ttapd  v&v  [isya  (ppovovvVuv,  %  Tag  Ttapd 


LESSON  V. 

BUT  if  it  shall  be  objected,  that  by  these  writers  the  word 
Sou/log,  doulos,  and  its  derivatives  are  used  in  a  figurative  sense, 
since  these  writers  all  exhibit  minds  deeply  excited,  or  used  all 
language  with  poetic  license ;  we  think  such  objection  unfounded, 
so  far  as  it  alleges  that  they  have  used  this  word  in  an  unusual 
manner,  or  have  attributed  to  it  any  other  sense  than  was  attributed 
to  it  by  all  the  Greeks. 

Nevertheless,  we  propose  now  to  present  this  word  as  it  was  used 
by  Thucydides,  Herodotus,  and  Xenophon,  against  whose  use  no 
cavil  can  be  made ;  and  we  now  fear  not  to  assert  that  their  use 
of  this  word  will  be  in  the  most  strict  accordance  with  the  authors 
already  examined. 

Plutarch,  who  was  somewhat  disposed  to  criticize  other  authors, 
speaking  of  Thucydides,  expresses  the  idea  that  he  wrote  in  such 
a  manner  that  the  reader  saw  the  picture  of  what  he  represented. 
(See  his  De  Gloria  Atheniensium.)  Plutarch  was  then  clearly  of 
opinion  that  the  language  of  Thucydides  was  most  appropriately 
accurate. 

We  here  premise,  that  we  shall  not  presume  to  offer  our  own 
translation  to  the  extract  we  propose  to  make  from  Thucydides. 
From  the  many  that  have  been  made,  we  have  selected  that  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  William  Smith,  of  the  cathedral  of  Chester,  England, 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  537 

and  concerning  whom  it  may  be  proper  to  say  a  word.  He  trans 
lated  Longinus  with  great  accuracy  and  beauty.  The  Weekly 
Miscellany  of  Dec.  8th,  1739,  says  of  this  translation,  "  It  justly 
deserves  the  notice  and  thanks  of  the  public."  Father  Phillips 
says,  1756,  "  A  late  English  translation  of  the  Greek  critic,  by 
Mr.  Smith,  is  a  credit  to  the  author,  and  reflects  lustre  on  Longi 
nus  himself."  Laudits  of  this  work  will  fill  a  volume.  In  1753 
he  translated  Thucydides,  and  was  directly  created  a  doctor  of 
divinity, — and  we  find  in  his  epitaph  now  in  the  cathedral  of 
Chester,  "  as  a  scholar  his  reputation  is  perpetuated  by  his  valu 
able  publications,  particularly  his  correct  and  eloquent  translations 
of  Longinus,  Thucydides,  and  Xenophon."  We  have  been  thus 
minute  that  it  may  be  known  with  what  spirit  we  prepare  this 
work. 

THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR,  by  Thucydides. 

Book  i.  chap.  8.  07  te  yjcrcroug  vn^evov  vt\v  r&v  xpeiGGovov 
Sovhsiav. 

"  And  the  great,  who  had  all  needful  supplies  at  hand,  reduced 
less  powerful  cities  into  their  own  subjection." 

At  that  age  of  the  world,  when  one  city  was  conquered  by  an 
other,  all  were  reduced  to  slavery,  unless  by  the  especial  favour  of 
the  conqueror.  In  this  instance  it  would  have  been  more  literal  to 
our  present  idiom  to  have  used  the  term  slavery,  instead  of  sub 
jection  ;  because  now  there  has  grown  up  a  wide  distinction  be 
tween  the  mere  subjugating  and  enslaving. 

Chap.  16.  Kupog  xal  n  HepGixri  (laatieia,  Kpolaov  xaOehovaa, 
xal  ocra  svtfog  "Ahvog  Tto^a^ov  Ttpog  SakaGGav,  £7t£GftpdetevGe.> 
xal  td$  h  VYI  rpteipG)  Ttofotg  e&ovhuae. 

"For  Cyrus,  after  he  had  completed  the  conquest  of  Croesus, 
and  all  the  country  which  lieth  between  the  river  Halys  and  the 
sea,  invaded  them,  and  enslaved  their  towns  upon  the  continent." 

Chap.  18.  Asxdta  Se  stei  fist9  avtriv  avOtg  o  /2dp/3apog  <r£ 
(leydfap  cnro^o)  enl  ^nv  cE/t/Ui§a  &ovhcaG6[ievo<;  v&6e. 

"  And  in  the  tenth  year  after  that,  the  barbarian,  with  a  vast 
armament,  invaded  Greece  in  order  to  enslave  it." 

Chap.  34.  0£  yap  snl  tip  Sovhot,  d/U3  erti  t$  bpoioi  tolg 
eivai, 


538  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


"  They  are  not  sent  out  to  be  the  slaves,  but  to  be  the  equals  of 
those  who  remain  behind." 

Chap.  55.  Kai  tcav  Kepxvpaiuv   oxraxoGiovg   ph,  ol  YIGOLV 


"  Eight  hundred  of  their  Corcyrean  prisoners,  who  were  slaves, 
they  sold  at  public  sale." 

Chap.  68.  Nw  §s  <ti  te  [laxpyyopelv,  QV  rovg 


"  But  now,  what  need  can  there  be  of  multiplying  words,  when 
some  you  already  see  enslaved." 

Chap.  69.  3Eg  foSe  <te  dd  dnoGrspovvrsg  ov  [tovov  Toig  vn 

oe8ovfa)[i8vovg  &feu&ep{'a£,  d/l/to.  KOLL  vovg  v 
!;vmijQ.%ov$.  ov  ^dp  6  SovhtiGapevos  dh%?  6 
7tai>GaL,  TteptopG)^'  §£,  dty^sGrepov  avto  Spa. 
"  Ever  since  you  have  connived  at  liberty  overthrown,  not  only 
in  whatever  communities  they  have  proceeded  to  enslave,  but  now 
where  even  your  own  confederates  are  concerned.  For  not  to  the 
men  who  rivet  on  the  chains  of  slavery,  but  to  such  as,  though  able, 
yet  neglect  to  prevent  it,  ought  the  sad  event  with  truth  to  be 
imputed." 

Chap.  74.  Toil'  d/l/ta)?'  rfa  p£%pi  ^IIQV  SovhevoWoVy  &c. 
"And  every  state  already  enslaved,"  &c. 

Chap.  81.  Otoog  Eixbg,  3A^valovg  fypovripati 
bovhevGai,  [irivs  ocrTtep  drteipovg  xaranJiayrivcu 

"It  is  by  no  means  consistent  with  the  spirit  of  Athenians  to 
be  slaves  to  their  soil,  or,  like  unpractised  soldiers,  to  shudder  at 
war." 

Chap.  98.  Ilp(t)T>7  T£  awty  7to/Ug  %v[iHn%ji$  napd  TO  xaOsGryj- 
xbg  sSovhtiSTj. 

"  This  was  the  first  confederate  state  which  was  enslaved  to 
gratify  their  aspiring  ambition." 

Chap.  101.  n/letcrrot  Ss  v&v  Eblortoz'  eyevovro  ol  v&v  na- 
'tors  oov^udevrov  drtoyovoc  y  xai  Mecr- 
ol  Ttdvreg. 

"Most  of  the  Helots  were  descendants  of  the  ancient  Messenians, 
then  reduced  to  slavery,  and  on  this  account  all  of  them  in  general 
were  called  Messenians." 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  539 

Chap.  103.  "Kv  8e  rtg  ahiGxyfai,,  roO  hafiovtog  eivcu  Sov- 


"  What  if  any  one  of  them  be  ever  found  there,  he  should  be 
made  the  slave  of  whoever  apprehended  him." 

Chap.  121.  Ei  oi  [iev  exelvuv  %v(tpa%oi  enl  Soviet  a  ry  av- 

r&v  fyepovveg  ovx  drtepovGw. 

"Which  rivet  slavery  on  themselves,"  &c. 

Chap.  122.  Kai,  tnv  r,GGavy  el  xai  $eivov  <r&  dxovGai,  TCTTG) 
ovx  G&/IO  TTt  <pepovGav  n  dvrLXpvg  Sovhetav. 

"  Such  a  triumph,  how  grating  soever  the  bare  mention  of  it  may 
be  to  any  of  your  ears,  yet  be  it  known,  can  and  is  nothing  else 
but  plain  and  open  slavery." 

Chap.  124.  Kai  tovg  vvv  SeSovhopsvovg  "E/^/l^ag,  ehev- 


"  And  shall  immediately  recover  liberty  for  those  Grecians  who 
are  already  enslaved." 

Chap.  138.  Kai   <roi)  CE^Y^VLXOV  ehrtiSa,  YIV  vrtefiftei 


"As  the  hope  be  suggested  to  him  of  enslaving  Greece." 

Chap.  141.  Tnv  ^ctp  avtriv  Svvarai  $OV%G>GLV. 
"  The  very  same  tendency  to  make  them  slaves." 

Book  ii.  chap.  61.  A  ov  /lot  ^dp  fypovyua  <r6  cdfyvi^iov  xal 
dnpoGSoxYiVov,  xal  vo  7t/le/(7r6)  7tapa/l6}/6)  ^vfiffalvov. 

"  Accidents  sudden  and  unforeseen,  and  so  opposite  to  that  event 
you  might  reasonably  have  expected,  enslave  the  mind." 

Chap.  63.  M>7§€  vofiictai  Ttepi    evog  (lovov,   Sov^eiag  dvr 


"  Think  not  you  have  only  one  point  at  stake,  the  alternative  of 
slavery  instead  of  freedom." 

Idem.  OvSe  ev  dp^ovGYi  rtohei  izvfKpeei,  dKti  ev  vftyjxoQ  dcr- 


"  Slavery  is  never  to  be  endured  by  a  state  that  once  hath  go 
verned.  Such  a  situation  can  be  tolerable  only  to  that  which  has 
ever  been  dependent." 

Chap.  71.  STrparsOcra/  <re  pq^eva  Ttore  dStxug  en*  avfovg, 
Ttl  Sovhei. 


540  STUDIES   ON  SLAVERY. 


"  That  no  one  should  unjustly  make  war  on  them,  or  endeavour 
to  enslave  them." 

Idem.  3E7ti   Sovheiq  Vy  ri^ergpa  fetff. 
"Are  come  hither  to  enslave  us,"  &c. 

Chap.  78.  Kai,  d/l/iog  otAig  v\v  ev  TQ  tetftsi,  ovre  Sou/log, 
oirfe  s^evOeoog. 

"  Nor  was  there  any  other  portion  within  the  wall,  either  slave 
or  free." 

Book  iii.  chap.  10.  3v[i[Aa%oi  fj.sv'toc  eyevo^ieOa  ovx  enl  xata- 
SovhuGei  t&v  eE/l/l7i^G)^  'AOyvaioig. 

"  We  made  an  alliance  with  the  Athenians  —  not  to  enslave  the 
rest  of  Greece  to  the  Athenians." 

Idem.  sE7t£iSri  Ss  lof&fiEV  airtovg  fnv  fiev  roO  WnSov  £%6pav 
rp  Se  t&v  %vfji[id%(jW  SovhttGiv  ertayoftsvovg,  ovx 
£Tt  ri[iev.  dSvvavoi  &e  ovveg  xaff  ev  yevopevot,  Sid  Tto/li;- 


ol 


xa 

"  But  when  we  perceived  that  they  relaxed  in  their  zeal  against 
the  Mede,  and  were  grown  earnest  in  riveting  slavery  upon  allies, 
we  then  began  to  be  alarmed.  It  was  impossible,  where  so  many 
parties  were  to  be  consulted,  to  unite  together  in  one  body  of  de 
fence  ;  and  thus  all  the  allies  fell  into  slavery  except  ourselves  and 
the  Chians." 

Chap.  38.  Aovhoi  OWES  r&v  del  dtoTtav,  wtepontai  8e 


"  Slaves  as  you  are  to  whatever  trifles  happen  always  to  be  in 
vogue,  and  looking  down  with  contempt  on  tried  and  experienced 
methods." 

Chap.  56.  'Ei*  exeivc*  Sf  tti  mipQ,  ore  Ttdcfi  Sovhetav  sne- 
<f>£pev  6  ^dp^apog,  oiSe  [is?'  avvov  ritfav. 

"  But  at  that  season,  when  the  barbarians  struck  at  enslaving 
us  all,  these  Thebans  were  then  the  barbarians'  coadjutors." 

Chap.  58.  Ilpog  Se9  xal  yriv,  ev  ri  yifavOzpttOriGav  ol 


"  Will  you  further  enslave  the  spot  on  which  the  Grecians  earned 
their  liberty  ?" 

Chap.  68.  Toig    [isv,  xaVaSovhov^evovs  tnv  cE/l/ld5a, 

toig  &e, 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  541 


"The  Athenians  truly  have  enslaved  your  country;  and  the 
others  would  regain  its  freedom." 

Chap.  64.  'ATte/U/Ttere  ^dp  avtnv,  xal  Ttapafiavteg, 

(lafthw  Aiywritag,  xal   d/Uorg   twag 
yj  Stexahvett. 

"  You  renounced,  you  violated  first  the  oaths,  which  rather  con 
curred  to  enslave  the  .ZEginetse  and  some  other  people  of  the  same 
association,  than  endeavoured  to  prevent  it." 

Chap.  70.  'Yndyovaiv  avrov  OVVOL  ol  dvSpsg  iig  Slx^r,  /le- 
yovtfeg  3A0>7m/otg  fnv  Kspxvpav  xata&ovhovv. 

"  And  therefore  against  him  the  accomplices  prefer  an  accusa 
tion,  as  plotting  how  to  subject  Corcyra  to  Athenian  slavery." 

Chap.  71.  Apdcrai'T'eg  8s  Vovto,  xal  ^vyxa^ecfav^sg  Kepxv- 
pa/oug,  elnov  6rt  tavra  xal  fi&rtiGta  eiyj,  xal  fccrt'  av  Sov- 


"After  this  bold  assassination,  they  summoned  the  Corcyreans 
to  assemble  immediately,  where  they  justified  their  proceedings  as 
most  highly  for  the  public  good,  and  the  only  expedient  of  pre 
venting  Athenian  slavery." 

Chap.  73.  T^  $  vatspatq  rpcpofiohitiavto  re  6/uya,  xal  Jg 
d^poi'g  7tEpL£7te[i7tov  d^oTrepot,  roig  8ovhov$  Ttapaxa 
ts,  xal  shevOsptav  V7ti(3%vov{ievoi.  xal  ?&  [izv  Sri^  thy  olxe- 
ro  TtX^Sog  Ttapeyeveto  %v[i[ia%ov,  Totg  ^'  grgpotg  ex  1% 

P  STtlXOVpOL  OXVaXOGlOL. 

"  The  day  following  they  skirmished  a  little  with  their  missive 
weapons,  and  both  parties  sent  out  detachments  into  the  field  to 
invite  concurrence  of  the  slaves,  upon  a  promise  of  their  freedom. 
A  majority  of  the  slaves  came  in  to  the  assistance  of  the  people, 
and  the  other  party  got  eight  hundred  auxiliaries  from  the  con 
tinent." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  olxeV&v  in  this  passage  is  also  trans 
lated  slave;  but  the  oixetfog  was  a  slave  whose  condition  was 
above  the  mere  ^oO/log.  In  English  the  word  will  imply  a  house- 
slave.  The  olxs'tog  enjoyed  a  greater  portion  of  his  master's  con 
fidence,  and  consequently  was  under  a  less  rigorous  government. 
The  truth  of  what  Thucydides  states  is  evident  to  those  acquainted 
with  the  character  :  the  higher  class  of  slaves  ever  take  sides  with 
their  masters  in  such  cases.  It  is  this  word  St.  Paul  uses,  by  which 


542  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 

he  describes  the  character  of  Onesimus  in  his  letter  to  Philemon. 
He  had  acted  as  Paul's  house-slave  at  Rome. 

Bookiv.  chap.  86.  'A/l/lcc  tovvavriov,  v^ilv  fteSovhtifievois 
vno  'Adyvaittv  ^i^a^yicrorTeg. 

"But,  on  the  contrary,  are  to  act  in  support  of  you,  who  are  op 
pressed  with  Athenian  bondage." 

Idem.  'Ov&e  dda(ffi,  Ty^  ehevOepiav  vo^ii^  envpspeiv,  d,  to 
Ttapeig,  TO  nheov  Toig  6/uyoig,  n  TO  ^addov  To£g 


"  I  am  convinced  that  liberty  can  never  be  re-established  by  me, 
if,  disregarding  ancient  constitutions,  I  enslave  the  multitude  to 
the  few,  or  the  few  to  the  crowd." 

Chap.  87.  01  Ss  "Ehtyveg  iva  (in  xoMxMrtai  i>q>  vft&v  Sov- 


"  For  the  sake  of  the  Grecians,  that  they  may  not  be  obstructed 
by  you  in  their  deliverance  from  bondage." 

Chap.  92.  Kal  Ttpog  ToiJTotg  ye  Sri,  01  xai  [in  rovg 
d/l/lct  xal  Tovg  oLTttedev  neiy&vrai  SovhovaOai,  7t&$  ov 
xai  £7tl  TO  ecf^atov  dytivog  shOelv, 

"  Let  me  add  further,  that  when  men  are  bent  on  enslaving,  not 
neighbours  only,  but  such  people  as  are  more  remote,  how  can  it 
be  judged  improper  to  encounter  such,  so  long  as  we  can  find 
ground  whereon  to  stand  ?" 

Idem.  OFg  Ss  ysvvalov,  T7iV  Te  avv&v  atel  efavOepovv  [*&%%, 
xal  tnv  d/l/lcw  firi  SovhoijaOai  d§ixG)g,  ttvayctviaroi  an'  av- 
r&v  ovx  aniaGi. 

"  But  from  men  who  were  born  to  vindicate  their  own  country 
for  ever  by  the  dint  of  arms,  and  never  unjustly  to  enslave  another, 
that  from  such  men  they  shall  not  get  away  without  that  struggle 
which  honour  enjoins." 

Chap.  114.  OvSe  /dp  snl  Sovhetc/i. 
"  They  had  no  enslaving  views." 

Chap.  118.  MriTe  SfavOepov,  fiifae  Sovhov. 
"Whether  they  be  free  men  or  slaves." 

Book  v.  chap.  9.  Kal  TJjSe  vylv  T-j]  ri/^£poc?  n  ayaOol$  yevo- 

v  Te  wt6.p%eiv,  xai  Aaxebaiftovitt 
n  'AOyivattiv  Te  8  o  v  /I  o  i  g,  n  TOC  dptcrTa  dvev 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  543 

xal 


rspav,  n 

"  That  this  very  day,  if  you  behave  with  valour,  you  are  hence 
forth  free,  and  will  gain  the  honourable  title  of  Lacedaemonian 
allies  ;  otherwise  you  must  continue  to  be  the  slaves  of  Athenians, 
where  the  best  that  can  befall  you,  if  neither  sold  for  slaves  nor  put 
to  death  as  rebels,  will  be  a  heavier  yoke  of  tyranny  than  you  ever 
yet  have  felt,  while  the  liberty  of  Greece  must  by  you  for  ever  be 
obstructed." 


Chap.  23.  *Kv  Sen  Sovhsia  ertaviGVYitai,  STttxovpelv 
valovg  AaxE§aL[tovioig  Ttawl  aOsvei,  xatffd  to  Svvatov. 

"  That  if  there  happen  any  insurrection  among  the  Helots,  the 
Athenians  march  to  the  succour  of  the  Lacedaemonians  with  their 
whole  strength,  to  the  full  extent  of  their  power." 

In  this  instance  the  translator  has  substituted  "Helots"  for  slaves, 
because  the  Helots  were  the  slaves  at  Sparta,  and  the  usual  term 
by  which  slaves  were  designated  in  Lacedaemonia,  Helot  and  <5ou/log, 
were  synonymous  terms  there. 

Chap.  27.  'Hg  ^pri,  eTte&n  AaxsSaipovLOi  ovx  en*  dyaOti, 


"  That  since  the  Lacedaemonians,  not  in  order  to  serve,  but  to 
enslave  Peloponnesus,"  &c. 

Chap.  29.  MTZ  fisrd  'AOyjvaitiv  (T^dg  ^ov^vtai  Aax£§ai[i6- 


"  That  the  Lacedaemonians  might  strike  up  a  bargain  with  the 
Athenians  to  enslave  other  states." 


Chap.  69.  Kox  vnzy  ap^yjg  d[ia  xai 
"  Either  such  on  slavery." 

Chap.  86.  Tl£$i<yiiyvo{i£voig  [iev  TO)  Sixain,  xal  Si3  avto  (iri 
wSovdi,  7t6fa[iov  fyuv  fyspovaav,  TtsLaBslcn  Ss,  Sovhsiav. 

"  Since  if,  superior  in  debate,  we  for  that  reason  refuse  submis 
sion,  our  portion  must  be  war  ;  and  if  we  allow  your  plea,  from 
that  moment  we  become  your  slaves." 

Chap.  92.  Koct  Ttog  gpTfCttpoy  dv  ^v^airi  wyiv  SovhevGai, 
Q(77tep  xal  vfuv  dp^at; 

"  And  how  can  it  turn  as  beneficial  for  us  to  become  your  slaves 
as  it  will  be  for  you  to  be  our  masters  ?" 


544  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


Chap.  100.  "H7tot>  doa,  el  toGavtyv  ye  v^istg  te, 
vai  do%yi$,  xal  ol    Sovhevovteg    yj&f 
TtapaxwSvvevGiv    rtoiovvtai,    rqdv    ye,    tolg    eti 

xax6tYi$  xal   &t/U'a,  (in  nav  noo  toil  SovfavGai  en- 


"  If  this  be,  and  if  you,  ye  Athenians,  can  readily  embark  in 
so  many  perils  to  prevent  the  desolation  of  your  empire  ;  if  states, 
by  you  enslaved,  can  do  as  much  to  throw  off  your  yoke,  must  it 
not  be  wretchedly  base  and  cowardly  in  us,  who  yet  are  free,  to 
leave  any  method,  even  to  the  last  extremity,  untried  of  averting 
slavery." 


Book  vi.  chap.  20.  'Em  $e  ?&  uapovti  a  yuyvwfxQ  GYIIJUCLV&. 
em  yap  Tto/lag,  <5g  eyco  dxoy  alGOdvofiai,  (ish'kofiev  Uvai  [isyd- 
>lag?  xal  ovO*  vTt^xoovg  d'khrfadv.,  ovts  8eo(i£va$  ^era/^o/lTfg,  YI 
av  ex  fiiaiov  rig  Sovheiag  dc>iievog  Ig  pao 


"  According  to  the  last  information  I  have  been  able  to  procure, 
we  are  now  going  to  invade  a  number  of  powerful  cities  ;  cities 
independent  of  one  another,  nor  standing  in  need  of  public  revolu 
tions  ;  which  people,  who  cringe  under  the  yoke  of  slavery,  might 
easily  embrace,  in  order  to  render  their  condition  more  support 
able." 


Chap.  27.  'M.yvve  iv  d<§ecig  tov  (3ovh6[ievov  xal  aj 
xal  Sovhov. 

"  He  should  boldly  inform  the  public  of  it,  whether  he  were  a 
citizen,  or  a  foreigner,  or  a  slave." 

Chap.  76.  Aov%G)Ga[ievovg  £%ew- 

"  They  hold  fast  riveted  the  yoke  of  slavery" 

Idem.  KataSov^toCetes.     "  By  enslaving,"  &c. 

Chap.  77.  cHg  eSovh&Ovictav.     "Who  will  be  slaves,"  &c. 

Chap.  80.  Aovheiav.     «  Slave"  be. 

Chap.  82.  Oi)g  %vyyevet$  fyaGir  ovtag  nfidg  ^vpaxovGioi  §e- 


"  Whom  the  Syracusans  say  we  thought  proper  to  enslave,  though 
connected  with  us  by  ties  of  blood." 

Idem.  Aovheiav   Se  avtoi   te  efiovtovto  vfuv  to  avto 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  545 

"  They  made  slavery  their  choice,  and  in  the  same  miserable  fate 
would  have  been  glad  to  envelop  us." 

Chap.  83.  Kai  ov  SovhtiGopsvoL,  ph  naOelv  Ss  (tdhtov 
TOIJTO  xuhvaovrsg. 

"  So  far  from  the  view  of  enslaving  them  to  ourselves,  that  we 
are  solely  intent  on  preserving  them  from  being  enslaved  by 

others." 

Chap.  84.  tvCh>  dhoyog  r^dg  fyyiGi  SovhtiGapsvovg. 
"  Whom,  after  unjustly  enslaving,"  &c. 

Chap.  88.  Tlhhv  xaOoGov  e!  vnv  ^ixehtav  tiovvo  avtovg  Sov- 


"  Save  only  the  ambition  they  showed  of  enslaving  Sicily." 

Book  vii.  chap.  75.  WiyvGtov  ^ap  871  TO  Sidfyopov  rorro  T6i 
eysvsto,  ofg  dvri  (lev  vov  d^ovg  Sov- 


"For  a  most  cruel  turn  of  fortune  this  really  proved  to  a  Gre 
cian  army  ;  who,  coming  hither  to  enslave  others,  were  departing 
now  with  the  sad  alternative  of  fearing  to  be  made  slaves  them 
selves." 

Book  viii.  chap.  1.5.  Tag  re  ^tir  Xf'cw  intd  vai>$,  ai  avtoig 
ovv   Tag  h  TW  Iletpata),  aTta^a^o^Teg,  Toig 
^  avr&v  rfaevBepotiav,  Toig  5'  shevOspovg  xa 
"  Having,  moreover,  fetched  off  the  seven  vessels  belonging  to 
the  Chians,  which  assisted  in  forming  the  blockade  at  Pirseus,  they 
set  at  liberty  the  slaves  who  were  on  board  them,  and  threw  all  the 
freemen  into  prison." 

Chap.  43.  'Evfiv  /dp  xai  vrfiovg  cbtacrag  Ttdhiv  SovhevsLV. 
"  For  thus  he  might  be  enabled  once  more  to  enslave  all  the 
islands." 

Chap.  48.  Aovhevecv  ^d/l/lor,  &c. 


546  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 


LESSON  VI. 
XENOPHON,  Memorabilia,  $0. 


Book  i.  chap.  3,  §  11.  9,Q  r^iiov,  s<py]  6  Sco^pd^g,  xai  ri  dv 
olei  TtaOelv,  xa^ov  <£>t/lyi(7ag  ;  dp'  ovx  dv  avvtxa  [iaka  $oi)/log 


eivai  dvr 


"Miserum  te,  ait  Socrates,  quid  eventurum  tibi  existimas,  si 
formosum  osculeris  ?  annon  subito  pro  libero  servus  esses?"  Leun- 
clavius. 

Chap.  5.  §2.  Aov/lG)  8  dxpafel  eni<tpei^<u[i6V  av  n  fiotixn- 
[ia<rcL  n  ra^Lela  n  epycdv  eTtiGVaaiav  ; 

"  Et  servo  intemperanti  num  vel  pecora,  vel  penum,  vel  ut  operi 
prseesset,  committeremus  ?"  Leunc. 

§  3.  3A^/ld  [iry  ei  ye  IIYI&  Sovhov   d*pa 
Ttwg  01'^  d^Lor  avrov  ye  ^f/ld^acrOat  totovtov 

"  Enimvero  si  ne  servtim  quidem  intemperantem  accepturi  simus, 
qui  non  operse  pretium  sit  cavere  ne  quis  ipse  talis  fiat  ?"  Leunc. 

§  5.  5VH  T/g  ovx  av,  valg  nSovalg  oov^evc^v,  atcr^pajg  SLOL- 
reOeiyj  xai  TO  cr^a  xai  vnv  ^vyfiv't 

"  Quis  voluptatibus  serviens  non  turpiter  turn  corpore  turn  animo 
affectus  sit  ?"  Leunc. 

Ibid.  3E^oi,  (iev  Soxel,  vn  ^v  "Hpai',  ehevOspG)  (j,sv   dv&pi 
evxrsov  elvai,  {in  rv%elv  Sovhov  etoi6vftov, 
ratg  rotavtoiis  nSovalg,  ixereveiv  vovg  Oeovg, 


"Equidem  ita  profecto  statuo,  homini  libero  optandum  esse,  ut 
hujusmodi  servum  non  consequatur,  atque  illi  qui  voluptatibus  ejus- 
modi  servit  deos  esse  obsecrandos  ut  dominos  bonos  nanciscatur." 
Leunc. 

Book  ii.  chap.  1.  §  11.  3A/U3  eyd*  VOL,  sfyyj  6  'Ap/cmTtTtog,  o^^g 
oovhetav  av  epavrov  rdrro)'  dh/C  eivat  <ng  ^oi,  Soxel 
vvov  68og,  nv  Tt^tpdj^at  (3a&i%eiv,  ov^e  $i  dp%ri$,  ovre 
oovhetag,  d^/ld  Si  efav6epta$,  fine?  ^d^tcrra  Ttpog  rf&xt- 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  547 


fioviav  dyei.     (12.)  3A^?  e 

Si  dp^g  oiire  Sid  SoiAeias  ri  ocSog  avry;  <|>£pet 


I  surely,  says  Aristippus,  do  not  place  myself  in  slavery  ;  but 
my  doctrine  is,  that  the  condition  equally  free  from  the  objections 
of  those  who  govern  and  of  those  who  are  in  slavery,  is  true  liber 
ty.  But,  says  Socrates,  the  condition  of  which  you  speak,  be 
yond  the  influences  affecting  those  who  bear  rule  or  those  in  slavery, 
can  never  exist  among  men  ;  for,"  &c.  §12.  o>g  8ovhoi$ 
Oat  —  "for  safety  they  desire  slavery." 

§  13.  "Ecog  OLV  TtsiauGiV  IheaOai  Sovhevsiv  avri  roii 


"Donee  persuaserint  eis  servire  potiiis  quam  bellum  cum  po- 
tioribus  gerere?" 

§  15.  *H  SLOTL  xai  Soi)/log  av  ohi  rotoDrog  eivai,  ofog  p?- 

"An  quod  talem  te  servum  esse  putas,  qui  nulli  domino  pro 
sit?" 

Chap.  6.  §  9.  Xa/leTto*'    Se    xai    Srfiavva   xwt£%eiv,    cocTTtep 

Sov^ov. 

"  Neque  minus  difficile  vinctum  retinere  tanquam  servum." 
Leunc. , 

Chap.  7.  §  3  and  4.  "On  vn  A<",  8<pYi,  o  {lev  Sovhovg  Vpe<p£i, 

o  Ss  shevOspov$.  (4.)  Kai  TtotEpov,  e<pYi,  *ov$  Ttapa  croi  ehev- 
depovg  oiei  {3sfaLOv<;  dvai  n  rovg  Ttapa  Kepd^m  Sovhovs; 

"  By  Jupiter,  (says  Aristarchus,)  the  reason  is  obvious.  He  (Ce- 
ramon)  rears  up  slaves,  while  I  only  employ  freemen.  Well,  then, 
truly,  says  (Socrates),  which  do  you  esteem  the  most  valuable,  your 
freemen  or  Ceramon's  slaves?" 

Chap.  8.  §  4.  Xa/leTtoig  dv,  £<J»7?  f/w,  £>  SoKpareg,  &ov- 
heiav  v7tofj.£Lvai^i.  Kai  pw  di  ys  ev  ratg 

TTel'O^T'eg   xdi    tf&V    OYl[L(K)i<jSV    S7tl{jlG^6[ASVOL    0V 

repot  evzxa  vovvov,  d/l/l3  shevOspi&'tepoi  vopi^ 

"  But  it  is  difficult,  0  Socrates,  for  me  to  submit  to  slavery. 
But  (says  Socrates)  high  political  officers,  and  all  those  who  have 
charge  of  public  affairs,  are  not  esteemed  to  be  in  a  slavish  employ 
ment0,  but  in  that  which  is  the  most  appropriate  to  the  most  elevated 
of  freemen." 


548  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


Book  iii.  chap.  12.  §  2.  TLo^ol    &£    Si    avro 
k^iGxovtaiy  xal  o&ovteg  rtfoi  Sovhevovcti  rov  houtov  (3iov, 
ear  o$ra>  rvftctGi;  VYIV  ^a/U-Ttcordr^  Sovhsiav. 

"  Many  endure  the  most  burdensome  slavery,  produced  by  their 
Slaving  been  taken  captives  in  war,  and  as  captives,  slaves  them 
selves  through  the  remainder  of  life." 

Book  iv.  chap.  2.  §  33.  Ti  &;  Tov  AatSa^ov,  £<py,  ovx 
xoag,  6rt  /l^flag  vrto  Mmo  &a  trp  Gotyiav,  y 

,  xal  TTJg  re  7tarp/5og  d^a  xal  r^g  efavOeptag  SG- 
i,  xal  87ti%eipG)v  drto&L$pd<3x£iv  [tsra  <rov  vlov  rov  re  nalSa 
xal  avrog  ovx  r$vvr$Yi  GaQnvaLi,  d/l/l'  d7t£ve%0elg  e!$ 

o^iv  sxel  1  8  o  v  ^  e  v  s  ; 
"  Is  it  truly  so  ?  You  have  not  heard  (says  Socrates)  that  Dae 
dalus,  captured,  deprived  of  his  liberty,  and  torn  from  his  country 
and  forced  into  slavery,  on  account  of  his  knowledge  and  wis 
dom  was  detained  by  Minos;  and,  when  afterwards  attempting 
to  make  his  escape  with  his  son,  who  was  slain  in  the  attempt,  was 
not  able  to  save  himself,  but  was  seized  by  the  barbarians  and  again 
forced  into  slavery." 

Ibid.  "A/l/lof  g  be  rtoGovg  OIEL  Std  Gofyiav  dvaprtdGrovg  Ttpog 
fiaGihsa  yeyovevai,  xal  sxel  §ovh£V£ir', 

"  How  many  others  are  born  and  remain  creeping,  fawning  about 
the  king  (of  Persia)  ;  and  because  he  deems  them  his,  he  there  en 
slaves  them." 


Chap  5.  §  5.  Aot>  ^£tav    £  rtotav 

<pY2,  vnv  Ttapa  rotg  XCLXLGVOLS  fccTTtoratg.     Typ>  xa- 
dpa  bovheiav  ol  dxpardg  bovfavovGiv; 

Of  which  Leunclavius  gives  the  following  :  "  Pessimam  servitu- 
tem.  Et  quam  esse  arbitraris  ?  Earn  ait,  quae  apud  pessimos  do- 
minos  serviatur.  Ergone  intemperantes  servitutem  pessimam  ser- 
viunt  ?" 

For  the  benefit  of  the  mere  English  scholar,  we  give  it  thus  : 
"Now,  where  do  you  esteem'the  most  degraded  slavery  ?  Why,  to 
be  sure,  says  he,  when  the  master  is  most  degraded.  It  follows 
then,  (says  Socrates,)  that  the  slaves  of  intemperance  are  the  most 
degraded  of  slaves" 

In  the  30th  section  of  the  defence  of  Socrates  before  his  judges, 
by  Xenophon,  we  find  thus  :  — 


STUDIES   ON  SLAVERY. 


<f>Yi{ii,  avirov  sni  ry  SovhortpeTtel  StocT'p^,  ny  o 
Ttarnp  avrti  napeGxevaxev,  ov  Sia^evslv. 

By  Leunclavius :  "  Itaque  aio,  non  permansurum  in  illo  servili 
vitse  genere,  quod  pater  ei  prasscripsit." 

We  offer  :  "  So  that,  I  said,  it  is  not  becoming  that  his  son  should 
remain  in  an  occupation  only  proper  for  a  slave,  in  which  alone  his 
father  educated  him." 


LESSON   VII. 

AT  the  close  of  the  23d  chapter  of  the  first  book  of  Xenophon's 
Cyropsedia,  we  find  : 

£,  oig  e%nv  <J)f/lot$  %pYlG6(u,  xal  nv  noidv  xai  nv 
,   rovroig    Sovhoig    fiaKhov   (3ov^^-£vreg   n    tpihoic, 
i,  vrf  avv&v  tavtwv  Sixyv  sSoaav. 

"  There  are  instances  of  many,  who,  when  they  might  have  used 
others  as  their  friends  in  a  mutual  intercourse  of  good  offices,  and 
who,  choosing  to  hold  them  rather  as  slaves  than  as  friends,  have 
met  with  revenge  and  punishment  at  their  hands."  Ashley. 

Book  iii.  §  2.  Kal  /dp  eanv,  efyi  o  Ki>po$,  xahov  ^o 
[in  novs  rig  Sovhog  ^£/lXo6  ysvrfieaOai'  nv  &e  8n  n 

,  n  xal  ahhov  rivd  vportov  Sovhcd&sig,  87U%eiptiv 
rig  fyaivYirai  rovg  Se&Ttorag  OLTtoGrepelv  eoivrov,  roijrov  cri?  Ttpa- 
rog  ei7t£y  norepov  &g  ayaSov  avipa  xal  xahd  rtpdrrovtOL  ri^qg., 
n  &g  dSixovvra,  nv  /Id^g,  xo%a%eig',  xo^dfa,  etyfy  &c. 

"It  is  indeed  noble,  said  Cyrus,  to  fight,  in  order  not  to  be 
made  a  slave  !  But  if  a  man  be  conquered  in  war,  or  by  other 
means  be  reduced  to  slavery,  and  be  found  attempting  to  throw  off 
his  masters,  do  you  yourself  first  pronounce  whether  you  reward 
and  honour  such  a  one  as  an  honest  man,  and  as  one  that  does 
noble  things,  or,  if  you  take  him,  do  you  punish  him  as  one  that 
acts  unjustly?  I  punish  him,  said  he."  Ashley. 

Ibid.  *H*>  f??  vn  A/',  savro)  avvoiSev  efavSepiag  fiev  e 


"  Why,  by  Jupiter,  being  conscious  of  himself  that,  affecting  his 
liberty,  he  has  become  by  far  much  more  of  a  slave  than  ever." 


STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 


/Ibid.  OISL  ovv  Tt,  £$>7  6  Ti^pd^g, 
&ou  GLvSpiATtovs  rov  iG%vpov  <p66ov, 

"  Can  you,  said  Tigranes,  imagine  what  brings  men  into  yielding 
to  slavery  more  effectually  than  very  great  fear  ?" 

Ibid.  Kaf  ol  71/tsW'Teg,  firi  vavaynGQGi,  xal  ol  oovheiar 
xal  SeG^ov  <po6or[j,evoi,  ovroi  [itv  ovre  Gttov  ov&  vrtvov  ovrai'- 
rai  rvy%dvew  Sid  rov  <p66ov  ol  Ss  T^YI  tier  <f>vyaJSe$,  r\or 
rfa  $e  Sof/levovreg,  eanv  ore  orvavrai  .xal 
ev§ai[i6vG)v  eG&tew  re  xal  xa^evoeiv. 

"  They  that  afe  at  sea,  and  dread  shipwreck,  and  they  that  fear 
servitude  and  chains,  are  neither  able  to  eat  nor  sleep  for  fear  : 
but  they  who  are  already  under  banishment,  who  are  already  con 
quered,  and  already  slaves,  are  often  in  a  condition  to  eat  and 
sleep  better  than  the  fortunate  themselves."  Ashley. 

Ibid.  TOV  8'  £{Aov  Ttarspa,  sity,  vvv  TtQg   ooxelg    SiaxelG&at 
v%rjs,  6g  ov  fiovov  Tteoi  savrov9  d^/ld  xal  Ttepi  Iftoi),  xal 
yvvaixog,  xal  Ttepi  ndvr^v  rtiv  vexvov   8ov%,e(a$  tyo- 
fieltai  j 

u  In  what  state  of  mind  then,  said  he,  do  you  take  my  father 
to  be,  he  who  fears  not  only  for  his  own  life,  but  that  his  wife, 
myself,  and  all  his  children  will  be  plunged  into  slavery?" 

Ibid.  §  4.  3A/l/ld  fid  At",  &J»7,  ovx  exelvov  e^eQ^v.  3A/l/la 
tiva  [trip  9  £$>7  o  Tiypdvyig.  Tov  eiTtovta,  vn  A/'a,  wg  T^g  avrov 
^vffls  av  Ttoiairo  &Gre  IJLT\  ^e  Sovheveiv. 

"  Truly,  said  she,  I  did  not  look  at  him.  At  whom  then  did 
you  look  ?  said  Tigranes.  At  him  who  said,  that  to  save  me 
from  servitude  he  would  ransom  me  at  the  expense  of  his  own  life." 
Ashley. 

Ibid.  §  9.  cHg  o^iya  ovvdpevoi,  nooopav  d^pcoTtoi  Ttepi 
Tto^d  87ti%eipov(j.ei>  Ttpdrrew.     'Nvv  ydp  8r( 


syevo^v  snel  <§'  edfofiev,  Gafy&c,  dfftofa&evcu  vo- 

vvv  dva^aivo^Oa  GeGttG(itvoi  wg  ovoeTta>7tore. 
"  How  few  things  in  futurity  are  we  men  able  to  foresee  !  and 
how  many  projects  do  we  undertake  !     I  have  endeavoured  upon 
this  occasion  to  obtain  liberty,  and  I  have  become  more  a  slave 
than  ever  :  and,  after  having  been  made  a  captive,  and  thinking 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVEEY.  551 

our  destruction  certain,  we  now  again  appear  to  be  in  a  condition 
of  greater  safety  and  security  than  ever."  Ashley. 

Book  iv.  chap.  8.  Airti  'xa  [idha  o^ea^e  ,  &Gne  p  bovhtiv  OLTIO 
xai  evpvifievcw,  rovg  [lev  ixevevovtag  avtf&v,  Torg 
,  <roig  $  ov$s  vavra  fypoveiv  Swaps  vovg. 
"  You  will  see  them,  like  slaves  that  have  run  away  and  are  dis 
covered,  some  supplicating  for  mercy,  some  flying,  and  some  with 
out  presence  of  mind  enough  to  do  either."  Ashley. 

Chap.  18.  sEav  &s  tig  vfiow,  xai  lov  c5g  ri^ctg  evvoix&g  xai 
npdtttiv  n  xai  tii&dcxcdv  (paivyirai,  rovrov  ripelg  o>g  svefyst^v 
xai  <pl?iov,  oi'^  <£g  Sovhov,  Ttepts^o^sv. 

"  But,  then,  if  you  shall  come  to  us,  and  shall  appear  to  do  any 
action,  or  give  any  information,  in  friendship  and  good-will  to  us, 
him  will  we  treat  as  a  benefactor  and  a  friend,  not  as  a  slave." 

Chap.  23.  A&rog  Se  6  Kiipog  avsuteiv  sxefavaev,  el  rtg  elyj  ev 
TQ  'Acrcn;p/'G)^  n  Si'pcov  n  'Apaft'GW  arparei'^a'Tt  avrq  ^oD/log, 
n  MyiSo)^,  n  TIepGQv,  n  Baxrptavtiv,  n  Kapwi-',  n  K&IXQV,  n  CE/1- 


n  d^o^ev  Tto^ev 
a  Cyrus  himself  ordered  them  to  make  proclamation,  that  what 
ever  slave  there  might  be,  either  in  the  Assyrian,  Syrian,  or  Ara 
bian  armies,  whether  he  were  Mede,  Persian,  Bactrian,  Carian, 
Cilician,  or  Greek,  or  of  any  other  country,  forced  to  serve,  that 
he  should  appear."  Ashley. 

Chap.  24.  "E^^to'Tog  &v  e[ioi,  fixo  Ttpog  erg,  xai  bcg'r^g  Ttpocr- 
xai  ^f'fo^f'  crot  snavvov  bov^ov  xai  GV(j,[ta%ov,  ae  Se 
alvovpai  e^ol  yeveG$>ai. 
"  I  bow  myself  at  your  feet,  a  suppliant,  and  give  myself  a  slave 
to  you,  and  a  confederate  in  the  war." 

Book  v.  chap.  1.  Kal  rotvvv  o^ioiav  ral$  Sovhaig  ei%e 


"And  was  clothed  in  the  same  manner  as  were  her  female 


Ibid.  3A/l/l3  £/o?  efyyi,  e&paxa  xai  x^aiovvag  vno  %,V7ty$  SL 
'a,  xai  Sovhevowdg  <ye  tolg  Jpco^g^otg'  xai  ^(i/la  xaxov 

tag,  TtpfV  ye  lpa^?  ro  Sovheveiv. 
"  But  I  have  seen,  says  he,  people  in  grief  and  tears  when  in 
love,  slaves  to  those  with  whom  they  were  in  love,  yet  they  deemed 
slavery  a  very  great  evil  when  not  in  love." 


552  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


Chap.  32.  Ov  ;/ap  dyvoti  rovr',  etyj,  on  ov  av  [tov  {ibvov 
^tiv  eiy  d/l/ld  xai  ol  s^ol  Sovhoi  iG%vporepoi  spoil  vrtav- 


"I  am  not  ignorant,  says  he,  that  you  are  above  me,  but  that 
my  own  slaves  are  above  me  in  power,"  &c. 

Book  vi.  chap.  26.  Kai,  Ki'pa)  8s  Soxti  [tsydhyv  rwd 
oiv  ofyeifaw,  bvi  [ie,  a!%[K&jarov  ysvoiievyv  xai  e^ai 
tij  ovve  [te  e5g  Sovhqv  rfeiwate  xexrriG$ai,  ovte  d> 
ev  dr/^Q  bvonarc  SisfyiftaZe  Se  (Tot  wcrTtep  dSehfyov  yvvalxa 


"  Then  I  think  we  are  both  under  great  obligation  to  Cyrus,  who, 
when  I  was  captured,  and  chosen  and  selected  particularly  for  him, 
thought  proper  not  to  receive  me  as  a  slave,  nor  even  as  a  free 
woman  of  low  standing,  but  detained  me  under  such  restraint  as 
if  I  had  been  his  brother's  wife." 

Book  vii.  chap.  20.  Km  Ttdvrag  &s  roi>g  donliovg  tcxv  vno%£i- 
fitav  yevoftevtiv  a<f>ev$ovqv  fodyxa^e  [teheTqv,  vo(ju%cw  rovro 
TO  on^ov  SovhixtiVEpov  Eivai. 

"  All  those  whom  he  conquered,  he  compelled  to  practise  with 
the  sling,  which  he  deemed  more  suitable  for  slaves." 

Chap.  30.  No'/zog  ^ap  ev  ndGiv  dv^puTtoic,  diSiog  eanv,  brav 
tohtg  ahp,  v&v  ihowov  elvai  xai   Ta  crQ^ara 
kv  VYI  no^ei  xai  TO.  ^pyi^ara. 
"  For  it  is  a  perpetual  law  among  all  men,  that  when  a  city  is 
taken  from  an  enemy,  both  the  persons  and  treasures  of  the  in 
habitants  belong  to  the  captors."  Ashley. 

Ibid,  ©d/btoug  fie  v  ovv  xai  ^i^oug,  xai  atrav  xai  nor&v,  xai 
rtovcjv  xai  vnvov  dvdyxYi  xai  rolg  80  v  /leu  5  fis-raSiSovai. 

u  In  heat,  and  in  cold,  in  meat  and  drink,  in  work  and  rest,  we 
necessarily  allow  our  slaves  a  portion." 

Ibid.  "Ort,  sTtel  xexftri(j£(fa  Sov^ovg,  rovrovg  xohdcropev,  w> 
TiovYiyoi  oxft;  xai  ti  npoarixsi  avrbv  ovra  novyipbv  novr^iac, 
svexa  n  (3haxeiag  d^ovg  xohd&iv  ; 

"  When  we  acquire  slaves,  we  punish  them  if  they  are  slothful 
and  vicious.  But  does  it  become  him  who  is  slothful  and  vicious 
himself,  to  punish  others  for  vice  and  sloth?" 

Book  viii.  chap.  1.  TocroDroT'  $e  Siafopeiv  f^dg  Ssl  t&v  §ov- 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  553 

',  bffov  ol  fiev  Sovhoi,  dxovveg  tolg  bOMfacug  wt^perov- 
Gtv'  ri^dg  Se,  eiTtep  d£iov[iev  efavSepoi  eivcu,  zxovvas  oel  rtoielv, 
o  <ti  rtketGVov  d^Lov  fyauvetcu  elvai. 

"We  ought  to  distinguish  ourselves  so  far  from  slaves,  as  that 
slaves  do  service  to  their  masters  against  their  wills ;  and  if  we 
desire  to  be  free,  we  ought  willingly  to  perform  what  appears  to  be 
most  excellent  and  worthy."  Ashley. 

Chap.  14.  Oi)g  5'  av  xorteGxeva%ev  et$  to  Sovheveiv,  rov- 
roug  oiVe  ^8/leTa^  t&v  etev&epitov  rtovctv  ovoeva  7tapG>p[ia, 
oirfe  oTtha  xExtrlGScu  sTtstpsrtev. 

"But  in  the  management  of  slaves,"  &c. 

Chap.  41.  'Bov^oipiv  8  av  v[id$  xal  rovro  xaravo^ai,  brt 
tovfcw  &v  vvv  vfilv  TtapaxE^iEVoiiai,  ovoev  tolc,  o  o  v  X  o  i  g  Ttpocr- 


And  I  desire  likewise  that  you  should  observe,  that  of  all  these 
orders  that  I  now  give  you,  I  give  none  to  those  that  are  of  servile 
condition." 

Chap.  47.  Kai  roi>g  p£v  Qihovg  trtti 
yevoftevovg9  fovc,  Se  Tto^efclovg  vri  epov 

"  By  my  means  my  friends  have  been  made  happy,  and  my  ene 
mies  enslaved." 

In  Xenophon's  Expedition  of  Cyrus,  usually  termed  the  Ana 
basis,  book  i.  chap.  9,  we  find  — 

"Hare  fyaiveaSai  <roi?s  tiw  dya&ovg,  ei^at^o^tfrarog,  rovg 
&e  xaxov$  oov^ovg  tovrcjv  GL%LOVV  eivcu. 

"So  that  brave  men  were  looked  upon  as  most  fortunate,  and 
cowards  as  deserving  to  be  their  slaves."  Spelman. 

Ibid.  Tlapd  [lev  Kvoov,  oovhov  ovto^  ovSeig  an  fa  rtpog 


No  one,  not  even  a  slave,  ever  deserted  Cyrus  to  go  to  the 
king." 

Book  ii.  chap.  3.  AoO^ot  Se  Tto^Uoi  etrtovro. 

"  They  were  attended  by  a  great  many  slaves." 

Chap.  5.  MeTrd  Se  tavta  t&v  (3ap6dpG*v  tivtg  irtneuv, 

rteSiov  ehavvovvsg,  wtivi  evvvyxdvoisv  "Ehfyvi  n 
fav^sptt,  rtdwag  exVswov. 
"  After  this,  some  of  the  barbarian  horse,  scouring  the  plains, 


554  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 

tilled  all  the  Greeks  they  met  with,  both  freemen   and  slaves." 
.Spelman. 

Ibid.  cEoct>Toi>  ^ap  tivai  (pqativ,  eTteiTtep  Kupou  riaav  rov 
Ixsivov  Sovhov. 

"  For,  he  says,  they  are  his,  having  belonged  to  his  slave  Cyrus." 

Book  iii.  chap.  1.  cH/^dg  8e,  ofg  xr^s^v  (isv  ovSslg  Ttdpecrra', 

larfarevaafiev  <5'  en'  avvov  c5g  Sovhov  dvvi  /focrt/lgcjg  Ttor/i- 

aovrsg    xai    aTtoxVevovvreg,    el    $vva([ie&a,    ti   av    olo^a 

na&eiv ; 

"  How  then  will  he  treat  us,  who  have  no  support,  and  who  have 
made  war  on  him,  with  the  design  to  reduce  him  from  the  condi 
tion  of  a  king  to  that  of  a  slave,  and,  if  in  our  power,  to  put 
him  to  death?" 

Book  vii.  chap.  4.  C0  8*  elnev  3A/l/l'  eyoye  lxavr,v  vo[ti& 
viw  Sixyv  £%ziv,  s!  ovrot,  Sov^oi  eaovrcu  dv>r'  efavSspov. 

"  And  then  he  said,  but  I  think  myself  sufficiently  revenged,  if 
these  people,  instead  of  freemen,  are  to  be  made  slaves." 

Chap.  7.  Soi)  {i£v  ^dp  xpavovvrog,  Soviet  a  V7idp%si  avroi$' 
xpafovfievov  $s  croi),  efavSepta. 

"  For  if  you  conquer,  they  are  slaves, — but  if  you  are  conquered, 
they  are  free." 


LESSON  VIII. 
HERODOTUS  of  Halicarnassus. 

WE  often  find  the  word  <5oivlog,  and  its  various  derivatives,  in 
the  plain,  the  simple  narrative  of  this  author.  His  use  of  the 
term  is  as  follows : 

Book  i.  chap.  7.  Ilapct  vovruv  $e  'RpaxfaiSaL  eiur 
ea%ov  triv  ap%r(v  sx  Seonponiov,  ex  Soii^^g  te  r??g 
yeyovorsg  xai  cHpa%/l£og. 

"  The  Heraclidae  are  descended  from  Hercules  and  a  female 
slave  of  Jardanus." 

Chap.  27.  Aaftelv  dp^e^ot  Av$oi)$  h   3o>udcr(T^?  iva  intp 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  555 

Iv  tri  rrtsiott  oixYi{iivtiv  f}$M*nvtiv  viGtivtat  GS,  rovg  Gv 


"  Can  they  wish  for  a  better  opportunity  than  to  meet  the  Ly- 
dians  on  the  Ocean,  to  revenge  those  of  the  Greeks  reduced  by 
you  to  slavery  on  the  continent?" 

Chap.  94.  AvSot  {ikv  on  vrto  HsoGYiGi  osbovhuvvo. 

"  Thus  the  Lydians  were  enslaved  by  the  Persians." 

Chap.  95.  Kai,   drtG>GaLusvoi   try    SovhoGvvyv 


And  rejecting  slavery,  they  became  free." 

Chap.  114.  Tfl    (3aGL^sv,  vrto  rov  GOV 

"  0  king  !  by  your  slave." 

Chap.  126.  Ov&eva  rtovov  Sovhortpertsa  e%ovat. 

"Slavish  employment,"  &c. 

Chap.  129.  Kcd  dMa  fayuv  Ig  avrov  ^ua^yea  srtea,  XOLI 
Kn  xai  eipsTo  [uv  Ttpog  To  ec^vrov  Selrtvov,  <to  {AIV  sxsivog  cr 
roi)  Ttat^og  sSoivitfe,  o  n  HYI  n  exeivov 


"  Among  other  things,  he  asked  him  what  was  his  opinion  of  that 
supper,  in  which  he  had  compelled  a  father  to  feed  on  the  flesh  of 
his  child  ;  a  supper  which  had  reduced  him  from  a  monarch  to  a 
slave."  Beloe. 

Ibid.  'Afeoorator    8s,    on  vov    Sslrtvov    sivsxsv 


"  (He  said  that  he  was)  most  wicked,  on  the  account  of  the  supper, 
to  enslave  the  Medes." 


Ibid.  Nw  &s  Mri&ovg  \j&v  a,vavtiov$  Vovtov  sovvag  Sov- 
?wOf  $  dvrl  SeGTtotecw  yeyovevau,  Ilgpaag  os  Sovhovg  sovrag 
TO  Ttptv  MrioW  vvv  yeywevai  ostfrtorag. 

"  The  Medes,  who  were  certainly  not  accessary  to  the  provoca 
tion  given,  had  exchanged  situations  with  their  slaves.  The  Per 
sians,  who  were  formerly  the  slaves,  were  now  the  masters." 

Chap.  170.  Kai 


"And  thus,  freed  from  slavery,  deem  themselves  happy." 
Chap.  173.  Kai  f\v  fisv  ys  yvvn   dcTTTi   Sovhc** 
ret  fsxva 


556  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


"If  any.  free  woman  marries  a  slave,  the  children  of  such  mar 
riage  are  reputed  free."  Beloe. 

Chap.  174.  06  fiev  vvv  Kdpe$  ov8ev  hapnpov  spyov 


"  The  Carians  made  little  or  no  exertion,  and  were  easily  en 
slaved." 

Chap.  210.  tvO$  aval  per  Sovhov  eTtoiytiag  ehev^spovg  TIsp- 
<Jag  el  vat. 

"You  have  raised  the  Persians  from  slavery  to  freedom."  Beloe. 

Book  ii.  chap.  1.  c£lg  Sov^ovg  TiaTpcotoDg  £avfa$  £v6[u%6. 
"He  considered  them  as  slaves  by  right  of  inheritance." 

Chap.  56.  "ETtemx  Sovhevovaa  avroSi  Mpi'ffaoSat  vno 
$Yiy&  rt£<pvxviYi  Aiog  ipov. 

"  Although  in  a  state  of  slavery,  she  there  constructed,  under  a 
green  spreading  beech,  a  natural  little  temple  to  her  god." 

Book  iii.  chap.  125.  "Ocrot  Se  Yicfav  ^elvoi  ts  xai  Soii/lot  r&v 
87tousvG)v,  sv  avSpartoStiv  hoytt  Ttoisvfievog  d%e. 

"  All  the  strangers,  and  their  slaves  accompanying  them,  were 
detained  in  bondage."  See  1  Tim.  i.  10. 

Chap.  138.  Kou  cr<2>£ag  SovhsvoWa*;  evSavra  Ti^og. 
"  And  they  being  enslaved,  Gillus  immediately  ransomed  them," 
&c. 

Chap.  140.  sE{ioi  {irtfe  %pvGov,o)(3aaihev,  [irtfe  dpyvpov  SiSov, 
d/l/l'  dvaacdGd[isv6<;  {ioi  Sog  ^vy  Ttarp/'Sa  ^d^iov,  rnv  vvv  d 
roi)  6{ioi>  Tlo?ivxpdfrEog  dTtoSavovvog  vno  3OpofVfo 
,  ravrvjv  [AOL  Sog  dvev  re  fyovov  xai  8 


"  I  would  have  neither  gold  nor  silver  ;  give  me  Samos,  my 
country,  and  deliver  it  from  servitude.  Since  the  death  of  Poly- 
crates,  my  brother,  whom  Oroetes  slew,  it  hath  been  in  the  hands 
of  one  of  our  slaves.  Give  me  this,  without  any  effusion  of  blood, 
or  reducing  my  countrymen  to  servitude."  (Beloe.)  See  1  Tim. 
i.  10. 

Chap.  153.  'ArteiTtag  voidi  JovXotcTc  (£^Sevl  $pd£eiv  ro 
yeyovog  epovfaveto. 

"  He  counselled  with  himself  about  that  which  was  foretold,  that 
Babylon  should  not  be  reduced  to  slavery  until  this  prodigy  should 
be  brought  forth." 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  557 

Book  iv.  chap.  1.  Al  /dp  r&v  ^xv^ecdv  yvvalxsg,  fog  Gtyi  oi 
dvopeg  drtrlGav  %y6vov  Ttoh'kov,  efyotteov  Ttaod  tovg  oovhovg. 

"  For  the  women,  deprived  so  long  of  their  husbands,  had  asso 
ciated  with  their  slaves."  Beloe. 

Chap.  2.  Toi'$  Ss  Sovhovg  oi  2xv$ai  Ttdvrag  vvfyhovtii 
roi)  ydhaxtog  eivsxev  fov  Ttivovai  Ttoievvtsg  &§£. 

"It  is  a  custom  with  the  Scythians,  to  deprive  all  the  slaves  of 
dight,  on  the  account  of  the  milk,  which  is  their  customary  drink." 
Beloe. 

Chap.  3.  'E#  tovwv  8n  lw  G$i  V&v  Sovhov  xai  tear  yvvcu- 


"  From  the  union  of  these  slaves  with  the  Scythian  women,  a 
numerous  progeny  was  born."  Beloe. 

Ibid.  Aovhoidi  Totcrt    ueTsotcrt  ^a^o^oi  airtoi  re  JXdcr- 


Goveg 

"  In  this  contest  with  our  slaves,  every  action  diminishes  our 
number."  Beloe. 

Ibid.  Mo&ovteg  &$  eiGi  nnfaspot*  Sovhot,. 

"  They  will  be  impressed  with  a  sense  of  their  servile  condition." 
Beloe.  , 

Book  v.  chap.  35.  C0  $£  tew  Sovhov  rov  niGfotafov  dno- 

gvpnaas  rr(v  xetya^nv  £<**&  xai  avepewe  dvafyvvai  Ta$  Tp/'^ag. 

"  He  therefore  took  one  of  the  most  faithful  of  his  slaves,  and 

inscribed  what  we  have  mentioned  on  his  skull,  being  first  shaved." 

Beloe. 

Chap.  49.  'Ittvuv    rtal$a$    Sovhovg    elvai    chV 
g  xai  dtyog  ^eyiarov  (lev  avvolGi  fifiiv,  eft  Se  tew 
6(76)   npoeGVate  trig  cE/l/ld(5og.  vvv  &v  Ttpog  &e&v  tcnv 
iuv  f)vaatf&£  "Icomg  sx  bovhoavvyjg,  dv&pag  o^ai^io- 

rag. 

"  The  lonians,  who  ought  to  be  free,  are  in  a  state  of  servitude; 
which  is  not  only  disgraceful,  but  also  a  source  of  the  extremest 
sorrow  to  us,  as  it  must  be  to  you,  who  are  so  pre-eminent  in 
Greece.  I  entreat  you  therefore,  by  the  gods  of  Greece,  to  relievo 
the  lonians  from  slavery,  who  are  connected  with  you  by  the  ties 
of  consanguinity."  Beloe. 

Book  vi.  chap.  83.  ^Apyog  &=  dv§p&v  exflpoSty  oi'Vco  wcnre  oi 
Sou/lot  airt&v  ea%ov  Ttdwa  <rd  Ttoriy^ata  dpxpvtes  re  xai 


558  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


o  STtrfiyjGav  ol  r&v  a7tofa>[i£Vttv  7tal8eg, 
G<peag  ovroi  dvaxrdt^voi  ortiGti  eg  ecdvrovg  <ro  ""Apyog 

v[tevoi  8s  ol  SOV^OL   [id%Yi  £G%ov 
v  Sri  G<pi  nv  ap^/wia  eg  d/l/lri/lovg,  enetffa  $e  eg  rovg 

avrip  (idwti$  K/lea^^pog,  yevog  IQV  <£>tyafavg  aTt'  ' 
yg'  ovrog  rovg  Sov^ovg  dveyvoGe  e7t&eG$ai  rotcrt  &(T7to- 


"  Argos,  however,  was  deprived  of  so  many  of  its  citizens,  that 
the  slaves  usurped  the  management  of  affairs,  and  executed  the 
offices  of  government  ;  but  when  the  sons  of  those  who  had  been 
slain  grew  up,  they  obtained  possession  of  the  city,  and  after  some 
contest  expelled  the  slaves,  who  retired  to  Tyrinthe,  which  they 
seized.  They  for  a  time  forebore  to  molest  each  other,  till  Olean 
der,  a  soothsayer,  and  an  Arcadian  of  the  district  of  Phigalis, 
came  among  the  slaves,  when  he  persuaded  the  slaves  to  attack 
their  masters." 


Book  ix.  chap.  48.  3Ev  9A§wauoiai  re  Vriv  Ttporteipav 
[tevovs  avvovg  re  dvrla  Sovhov  r&v  7i(j.ere^v  raGGo[ievovg. 

"  We  see  you  delegating  to  the  Athenians  the  more  dangerous 
attempt  of  opposing  us,  and  placing  yourselves  against  our  slaves." 
Beloe. 

In  the  "Libellus  de  Vita  Homeri,"  attributed  to  Herodotus,  in 
the  23d  section  we  find  the  word  GwSovfap,  used  to  mean  a  fellow- 
slave. 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  559 


LESSON  IX. 

WE  now  propose  to  notice  the  scriptural  use  of  the  word 
doulos,  and  its  derivatives,  not  only  that  its  use  may  be  compared 
with  the  Greek  writers,  but  that  it  may  be  seen,  as  we  believe  is 
true,  that  its  use  in  these  carries  with  it  abundant  proof,  even  in 
the  absence  of  all  other,  that  "it  means  a  slave,"  and  "that  he 
to  whom  it  was  applied  was  a  slave." 

Whenever  a  thing  is  made  any  part  of  discourse,  it  is  neces- . 
sarily  placed  in  a  position  of  commendation,  reprehension,  or  of 
perfect  indifference.  One  of  these  conditions  must  unavoidably 
attend  its  mention.  A  little  reflection  will  enable  us  to  perceive 
these  distinctive  positions.  For  instance,  in  the  sentence,  "  Lay 
up  treasures  in  heaven,  where  moth  and  rust  doth  not  corrupt,  nor 
thieves  break  through  nor  steal,"  who  does  not  feel  the  com 
mendable  position  of  the  things,  treasure  and  heaven,  and  the  re 
verse  of  moth,  rust,  and  thieves  ?  Let  us  apply  this  view  to  the  word 
servant,  selecting  only  those  instances  in  the  Christian  Scriptures, 
where  the  word  is  translated  from  the  Greek  word  8ovhog,  doulos, 
and  means  nothing  except  what  we  mean  by  the  word  slave. 

St.  Paul  commences  his  epistle  to  the  Romans,  to  the  Philip- 
pians,  and  to  Titus,  with  the  appellation  of  servant.  In  the  two 
first  cases  he  calls  himself  the  servant  and  apostle  of  Christ.  In 
the  last  instance,  he  terms  himself  the  servant  of  God  and  apostle 
of  Jesus  -Christ.  Peter,  in  his  second  epistle,  styles  himself  a 
servant  and  apostle :  Jude,  the  servant  of  Christ.  In  all  these 
instances  the  word  means  slave,  and  is  used  commendatively,  but 
figuratively,  to  signify  their  entire  devotedness  to  the  cause 
in  which  they  are  engaged, — devoted  to  the  cause  wholly,  as 
a  good  slave  is  to  his  master.  And  it  may  be  here  remarked, 
that  the  professing  Christian  is  indebted  to  the  institution  for  the 
lesson  of  humility  and  devotedness  here  plainly  taught  him,  and 
without  which,  perhaps,  he  never  could  have  been  taught  his  duty 
in  these  particulars  so  pertinently  and  clearly.  The  humility  and 
devotedness  of  the  Christian  are  illustrated  by  this  ordinance  in 
John  xv.  20 :  "  Remember  the  words  that  I  said  unto  you,  the 
servant  is  not  greater  than  his  Lord." 


560  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

In  the  parable  of  the  vineyard,  Luke  20  and  Matt.  21,  the 
servant  (Soii/log,  doulos,  slave)  is  presented  in  a  position  evincing 
the  trustworthiness,  devotion,  and  obedience  implied  in  that  cha 
racter,  clearly  indicating  the  idea  that  these  qualities  inspire  the 
mind  of  the  proprietor  with  a  confidence  surpassed  only  by  that  in 
his  son  and  heir.  And  it  may  be  well  remarked,  that  the  posi 
tion  of  the  slave  is  one  of  great  facility  for  the  generating  of  such 
confidence  in  the  mind  of  the  master.  Between  the  good  slave 
and  the  good  master  there  can  be  no  dissimilarity  of  interest ;  but 
not  so  with  the  hired  man,  see  Matt.  20 ;  for  the  very  moment 
those  hired  in  the  morning  for  a  penny  a  day  perceived  that  those 
who  had  not  laboured  the  whole  day  received  the  same  amount 
of  wages,  they  commenced  a  quarrel  with  the  proprietor. 

This  distinctive  use  of  language  we  think  also  perceptible  in  the 
parable  of  the  prodigal  son,  Luke  xv.  17 :  "How  many  hired  ser 
vants  (Ttocrot  (uc6u)i9  posoi  misthioi)  of  my  father  have  bread 
enough  and  to  spare,"  TtepiGGevovcnv  apro)^  perisseuousin  arton, 
an  overflowing  of  bread. 

He  is  not  made  to  say  that  his  father's  slaves  had  bread  enough, 
but  that  even  his  hired  men  had  enough.  "Make  me  as  one  of 
thy  hired  servants"  ^tcrO/G)^,  misthion.  He  does  not  ask  to  be  re 
ceived  as  a  son,  not  even  to  be  accounted  as  a  slave, — he  feels 
unworthy  of  either.  "  But  the  father  said  to  his  servants,"  Soivloug, 
doulous,  slaves,  "Bring  forth  the  best  robe."  Having  slaves,  it 
would  have  been  quite  out  of  place  to  have  called  one  of  his 
(ita6ov$,  misthous,  hired  men.  But  the  elder  son  "called  one  of 
the  servants;"  nor  would  it  have  been  natural  for  him  to  have 
called  a  hired-man,  nor  yet  one  of  the  common  slaves,  but  a  con 
fidential  servant,  whose  position  in  the  family  would  enable  him  to 
possess  the  information  required ;  and  so  we  find  the  fact  by  the 
expression  Ttev  Ttaiotiv  OLVVOV,  ton  paidon  autou,  his  young  confi 
dential,  favourite  slave. 

But  the  elder  brother  said  to  his  father,  "Lo,  these  many  years 
do  I  serve  thee ;"  the  verb  used  is  SoivUl'G),  douleuo,  and  expresses 
the  faithful  and  devoted  service  of  a  good  slave,  not  of  a  hired 
man,  who  would  feel  no  real  interest  beyond  his  own  personal 
benefit.  And  this  word  is  put  in  the  mouth  of  the  angered  son, 
whereby  to  show  more  forcibly  his  sense  of  his  own  merits. 

While  we  cast  reflection  back  upon  the  incidents  of  this  parable, 
let  us  suppose  the  owner  of  slaves  also  to  employ  hired  labourers : 
if  fvorn  famine  or  other  cause  he  finds  himself  unable  to  supply  them 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  561 


all  with  bread,  which  would  he  turn  away,  his  slaves,  or  hired  men  ? 
or,  if  they  refused  to  go,  which  would  he  feel  disposed  to  put  on 
small  allowance  ? 

Jesus  Christ  seems  to  have  understood  that  if  there  was  to  be 
any  deficiency  of  bread,  the  hired-men  might  be  expected  first  to 
feel  it.  Our  Lord  and  Saviour,  in  pronouncing  this  parable,  has 
given  us  the  most  explicit  assurance  that  he  intimately  understood 
the  domestic  relations  of  the  slave,  and  has  taught  us  the  lesson  by 
placing  him  side  by  side  with  the  hired  servant. 

From  the  fact  that  the  good  slave  was  wholly  devoted  and  faith 
ful  to  his  master,  the  idea  was  not  only  applied  to  Paul,  Peter,  and 
Jude,  but  also  to  Noah,  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Moses,  Joshua,  and 
David,  and  others,  to  express  these  qualities  in  them  towards  Jeho 
vah  ;  and  we  find  it  so  used  in  the  Christian  Scriptures  :  "He  hath 
holpen  his  servant  Israel,"  'Icrpari/l/  TtaiSbg  avrov,  Israel  paidos 
autou,  Luke  i.  54.  It  is  noticed  that  with  the  word  "Israel"  is 
associated  the  same  term  to  mean  slave  which  was  applied  to  the 
slave  called  by  the  elder  brother;  and  the  reason  seems  to  be 
because  the  name  Israel  is  supposed  to  be  in  higher  regard  than 
the  word  Jacob, — the  word  in  apposition  should  also  be  expressive 
of  such  elevated  regard.  Therefore,  if  the  word  Jacob  had  been 
used,  the  word  Sov^og  would  have  followed  it.  This  word  Ttalg, 
pals,  when  applied  to  a  slave,  was  a  word  of  endearment,  and  hence 
was  used  in  the  case  of  the  centurion's  servant.  And  we  may  here 
well  remark  that  the  case  of  the  centurion  is  one  in  point,  present 
ing  an  instance  where  slave-holding  was  brought  to  the  immediate 
and  particular  notice  of  the  Saviour,  and  the  record  shows  his 
conduct  and  language  upon  the  occasion. 

"  For  I  am  a  man  under  authority,  having  soldiers  under  me, 
and  I  say  to  this  man,  Go,  and  he  goeth ;  and  to  another  Come,  and 
he  cometh ;  and  to  my  servant,  (Sovfap,  doulo,  slave,}  Do  this,  and 
he  doeth  it. 

"  When  Jesus  heard  it,  he  marvelled,  and  said  to  them  that  fol 
lowed,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  I  have  not  found  so  great  faith,  no, 
not  in  Israel."  Matt.  viii.  9, 10. 

"  And  as  he  was  now  going  down,  his  servants  (Soi&ofc,  douloi, 
met  him,  and  told  him,  saying,  Thy  son  liveth."  JoJin  iv.  51. 

36 


562  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


LESSON  X. 

THE  Christian  Scriptures  use  the  institution  of  slavery  figura 
tively,  in  illustration  of  the  Christian  character  and  duty,  and  also 
in  happy  illustration  of  the  providences  of  God  to  man. 

"  Who  is  that  faithful  and  wise  servant,  (Soi&og,  doulos,  slave,) 
whom  his  lord  hath  made  ruler  over  his  household,  to  give  them 
meat  in  due  season  ?  Blessed  is  that  servant  ($ovfao$,  doulos, 
slave,)  whom  his  lord,  when  he  cometh,  shall  find  so  doing.  But 
if  that  evil  servant  (Soi&og,  doulos,  slave)  shall  say  in  his  heart, 
My  lord  delayeth  his  coming ;  and  shall  begin  to  smite  his  fellow- 
servants,  (tiVvSovfovg,  sundoulous,  fellow-slaves,)  and  to  eat  and 
drink  with  the  drunken,  the  lord  of  that  servant  (Sovhov,  doulou, 
slave)  shall  come  in  a  day  when  he  looketh  not  for  him,  and  in  an 
hour  that  he  is  not  aware  of."  "  For  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  as  a 
man  travelling  into  a  far  country,  who  called  his  own  servants, 
(oovfav$,  doulous,  slaves,)  and  delivered  unto  them  his  goods." 
"His  Lord  said  unto  him,  Well  done,  thou  good  and  faithful  ser 
vant,  (Sovfay  doule,  slave,)  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few 
things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many  things :  enter  thou  into 
the  joy  of  thy  Lord."  "  His  lord  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Thou 
wicked  and  slothful  servant,  (SoitfU,  doule,  slave,)  thou  knewest 
that  I  reap  where  I  sowed  not,  and  gather  where  I  have  not 
strewed,"  &c.  "And  cast  ye  the  unprofitable  servant  (Sov^ov, 
doulon,  slave)  into  outer  darkness:  there  shall  be  weeping  and 
gnashing  of  teeth."  Matt.  xxiv.  45-50 ;  xxv.  14,  30. 

"  And  he  called  his  servants  (Soivtoug,  doulous,  slaves),  and 
delivered  them  ten  pounds,  and  said  unto  them,  Occupy  till  I 
come.  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  when  he  was  returned,  having 
received  the  kingdom,  then  he  commanded  these  servants  (Sovhovg, 
doulous,  slaves)  to  be  called  unto  him,  to  whom  he  had  given 
money,  that  he  might  know  how  much  every  man  had  gained  by 
trading."  "  And  he  said  unto  him,  Well,  thou  good  servant  (Soi&F, 
doule,  slave),  because  thou  hast  been  faithful  in  a  very  little,  have 
thou  authority  over  ten  cities."  "And  he  saith  unto  him,  Out  of 
thine  own  mouth  will  I  judge  thee,  thou  wicked  servant,  (Soivte, 
doule,  slave.)  Thou  knewest  that  I  was  an  austere  man,  taking  up 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  563 


that  I  laid  not  down,  and  reaping  that  I  did  not  sow."    Luke 
xix.  13-28. 

"Blessed  is  that  servant,  (^oivlog,  doulos,  slave)  whom  his  lord, 
when  he  cometh,  shall  find  so  doing.  But  if  that  servant  (Soi&og, 
doulos,  slave)  say  in  his  heart,  My  lord  delayeth  his  coming ; 
and  shall  begin  to  beat  the  men-servants  (foig  TtalSag,  male-slaves) 
and  maidens,  (tag  Ttou&'crmg,  female  slaves,)  and  to  eat  and  drink 
and  be  drunken ;  the  lord  of  that  servant  (Sovfav,  doulou,  slave,) 
will  come  in  a  day  when  he  looketh  not  for  him,  and  in  an  hour 
when  he  is  not  aware,  and  will  cut  him  in  sunder."  "And  that 
servant  (Soi&og,  slave)  which  knew  his  lord's  will,  and  prepared 
not  himself,  neither  did  according  to  his  will,  shall  be  beaten  with 
many  stripes."  Luke  xii.  43-48. 

Here  is  an  instance  when  the  most  favourite  slave,  called  by  the 
term  expressing  such  favouritism,  when  supposed  to  be  disobedient, 
is  immediately  designated  by  the  term  Soivlo£,  doulos. 

"Blessed  are  those  servants  (Sovhoi,  douloi,  slaves)  whom  the 
lord  when  he  cometh  shall  find  watching ;  and  if  he  shall  come  in 
the  second  watch,  or  come  in  the  third  watch,  and  find  them  so, 
blessed  are  those  servants,"  (bovtoi,  douloi,  slaves.)  Luke  xii. 
37,  38. 

"And  sent  his  servant  (5oi)/log,  doulos,  slave]  at  supper-time,"  &c. 
*  *  *  "So  that  servant  (Soitiog,  doulos,  slave)  came  and  showed 
his  lord  these  things.  Then  the  master  of  the  house  being  angry, 
said  to  his  servant,"  (Soi&p,  doulo,  slave.)  "And  the  servant  (Soivlog, 
doulos,  slave)  said,  Lord,  it  is  done.  And  the  lord  said  unto  the 
servant,  ($oi>hov,  doulon,  slave,)  Go  out  into  the  highway,"  &c. 
Luke  xiv.  17-23. 

"  And  ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you 
free,  (efavSspctGei  eleutJierosei,  free.)  They  answered  him,  We  be 
Abraham's  seed,  we  were  never  in  bondage  (SeSovfavxapffV,  dedou- 
leukamen,  slavery)  to  any  man  :  how  sayest  thou,  Ye  shall  be  made 
free  ?  Jesus  answered  them,  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  whoso 
ever  committeth  sin,  is  the  servant  of  sin,  (ooiJ/log,  doulos,  slave.) 
And  the  servant  ($oivtog,  doulos,  slave)  abideth  not  in  the  house 
for  ever.  If  the  Son  therefore  shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be 
free  indeed."  John  viii.  32-35. 

"  But  which  of  you,  having  a  servant  (&ovhov,  doulon,  slave) 
ploughing  or  feeding  cattle,  will  say  unto  him  by  and  by,  when  he 


564  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 

is  come  from  the  field,  Go  and  sit  down  to  meat  ?  And  will  not 
rather  say  unto  him,  Make  ready  wherewith  I  may  sup,  and  gird 
thyself,  and  serve  me,  till  I  have  eaten  and  drunken  ;  and  after 
ward  thou  shall  eat  and  drink?  Doth  he  thank  that  servant 
(fci'vto),  slave)  because  he  did  the  things  that  were  commanded  him  ? 
I  trow  not.  So  likewise  ye,  when  ye  shall  have  done  all  those 
things  which  are  commanded  you,  say,  We  are  unprofitable  ser 
vants  (<$oivlot,  slaves) :  we  have  done  that  which  was  our  duty  to 
do."  Luke  xvii.  7-10. 

In  all  these  instances  slavery  is  made  a  lesson  of  instruction,  and 
always  in  the  position  commendable. 


LESSON  XL 

THE  Christian  Scriptures  recognise  the  force  and  application  of 
the  command,  "  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbour's  man-servant, 
nor  his  maid-servant,"  as  applicable  to  slaves  at  the  time  of  the  apos 
tles  ;  and  that  the  act  of  "  coveting,"  extended  into  action,  becomes 
"  stealing,"  the  property  named  in  the  command.  "Now  the  end 
of  the  command  is  charity  out  of  a  pure  heart,  and  of  a  good  con 
science,  and  of  faith  unfeigned :  from  which  some  having  swerved, 
have  turned  aside  unto  vain  jangling;  desiring  to  be  teachers  of  the 
law ;  understanding  neither  what  they  say,  nor  whereof  they  affirm. 
But  we  know  that  the  law  is  good,  if  a  man  use  it  lawfully,  know 
ing  this,  that  the  law  is  not  made  for  a  righteous  man,  but  for  the 
lawless  and  disobedient,  the  ungodly,  and  for  sinners,  for  unholy 
and  profane,  for  murderers  of  fathers,  and  murderers  of  mothers, 
for  manslayers,  for  whoremongers,  for  them  that  defile  themselves 
with  mankind,  for  men-stealers,  (di^pocTto&crTaig  andrapodistais, 
slave-stealers,)  for  liars,  for  perjured  persons,  and  if  there  be  any 
other  thing  that  is  contrary  to  sound  doctrine,  according  to  the 
glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God,  which  was  committed  to  my 
trust."  1  Tim.  i.  5-11. 

It  may  be  well  remembered  that  the  preceding  third  verse  of  this 
chapter  beseeches  Timothy  to  still  abide  at  Ephesus,  that  he  may 
charge  some  that  they  teach  no  other  doctrine,  &c. 

The  word  andrapodistais,  of  the  original  Greek  text,  here  trans- 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

lated  men-stealers,  means  the  stealing,  or  enticing  away  from  the 
possession  and  ownership  of  their  masters,  their  slaves.  St.  Paul 
speaks  of  it  as  a  part  of  the  law,— speaks  of  the  offence  as  one 
well  known,  and  as  too  well  known  to  be  a  part  of  the  law  to  re 
quire  any  explanation.  When  we  come  to  know  that  that  act  of 
the  mind  called  coveting,  indulged  to  action,  becomes  stealing, — that 
the  crime  in  action  includes  the  crime  in  mind, — we  may  readily 
perceive  what  particular  law  is  referred  to.  Is  it  difficult  to  decide 
that  property,  which  the  law  forbids  us  to  covet,  it  also  forbids  us 
to  steal,  even  if  "thou  shalt  not  steal"  had  not  preceded  ? 

The  idea  stealing  was  expressed  by  the  Greeks  by  the  word 
xtenta,  klepto,  but  the  idea  stealing  slaves  was  expressed  by  the 
word  in  the  text.  The  formation  is  dWip,  a  man,  Ttovg,  afoot,  and 
signifies  the  condition  of  slavery,  as  a  man  bound  by  the  foot.  A 
whole  class  of  words  of  this  formation,  all  including  the  idea  of 
slavery,  were  in  use  by  the  Greeks,  and  found  in  their  authors. 
When  used  to  express  the  substantive,  the  idea  of  slavery  is  asso 
ciated  with  the  idea  of  some  change  of  position  or  ownership ; 
hence  its  use  in  this  instance.  The  thing  stolen  involves  the  idea 
of  a  change  of  position,  possession,  &c.  Yet  in  many  instances  it 
may  be  difficult  to  perceive  this  distinction,  it  rather  appearing  to 
have  been  often  used  as  a  synonyme  of  doulos,  both  as  a  verb  and 
substantive. 

In  the  8th  section  of  the  4th  book  of  the  Cyropsedia,  Xeno- 
phon  uses  this  word  to  mean  a  slave,  the  quality  growing  out  of 
the  imputed  change  in  the  condition  of  the  soldier,  thus : 
6  <roinro  Ttoi&v  ovxett,  dvrip  iarw,  c&Xa  o*EiwJ>6pog,  xai  t&an 
T6)  fiovfapevQ  rfa  ^pyfaflcu.  Toikco  cog  di>Spa7toSa>.  Which 
Ashley  translates,  "  And  as  he  that  does  this  can  no  longer  be 
reckoned  a  man,  but  a  mere  bearer  of  baggage,  so  any  one  that  will 
is  free  to  use  him  as  a  slave."  The  Romans  so  understood  this 
word.  In  the  translation  of  Xenophon  into  Latin  by  Amelburnus, 
we  find  this  passage :  "Nam  qui  hoc  facit  non  miles  et  vir  est,  sed 
sarcinarius  calo  ;  quern  uti  mancipium  tractare  cuivis  licet;"  nor 
can  it  be  said  that  this  learned  man  misunderstood  his  Greek,  for 
we  have  before  us  the  critical  translations  of  Oxford  and  Cam 
bridge,  in  which  the  sentence  reads,  "  Nam  qui  hoc  facit,  non  am- 
plius  vir  est  et  miles,  sed  sarcinarius  calo,  atque  hoc  adeo  uti  man 
cipium  licet."  They  have  made  no  change  as  to  this  word,  nor 
as  to  the  sense  of  the  sentence. 

Xenophon  uses  this  word  also  in  the  14th  section  of  the  8th 


566  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

book,  to  mean  slaves,  and  in  the  same  passage  with  5oivlo£?  the 
adjective  sense  existing  in  the  presumed  unwillingness  in  the  slaves 
to  seek  freedom,  on  the  account  of  their  happiness  being  probably 
better  secured  in  a  state  of  slavery  to  Cyrus  than  it  would  be  in 
a  state  of  freedom.  We  give  it  entire  : 

av  xarstixsva^sv  8i$  ro  bovhsveiv,  tovrovg  ovrt- 

fav^spitiv  Ttovuv  ov&£va  TtapQp^a,  oiVe 
snstpsTtev  eTte^e^elro  $  oTtcog  {wftofs  dcrtrot 
ctTtorot  Tto-rg  eaoivto,  efav&spiGtv  evsxa  [isfaryiidttiv.     Kai  j/ap 
ortorav  ehavvoisv  ra  $»7p/a  rolg  LTtTtevaiv  elg  ra  7t£&'a? 
6ai  attov  et$  Sripav  rorrotg  fTtfirpETte,  r&v  Se  efavSeptiv 
Kal  ortove  nopeia  eiYi,  rysv  avrovg  Ttpog  <r,d  vSara  Q(77tep 
vrto^vyia.     Kat  ortore  $s  wpa  HYI  apKrrop,  dvefievev 
ear  av  fyojyoizv  ri,  c5$  {in  Povfapifiev'  &Gte  xai  ovroi 
ol  dptcrrot,  Ttarfpa  exdhovv.,  on  ene^ero  avt&v 
del  dvopdnofta  8iarsXoisv. 

Which  may  be  translated  thus :  "  But  in  rearing  up  his  slaves, 
he  never  permitted  them  to  practise  the  employment  of  the  free, 
nor  allowed  them  the  possession  of  arms,  but  took  care  that  they 
would  never  be  without  their  meat  and  drink  for  the  sake  of  the 
practices  of  the  free ;  for  when  with  their  horses  they  drove  out 
the  wild  beasts  into  the  plains,  he  allowed  meat  and  drink  to  be 
carried  for  the  use  of  these  people  during  the  hunt,  but  not  for 
the  free  ;  and  when  he  was  upon  a  march,  he  led  them  to  water,  as 
he  did  the  beasts  of  burden ;  and  when  the  time  for  dinner  came, 
he  waited  till  they  had  eaten  something,  that  they  might  not  be 
distressed  writh  hunger ;  so  that  these  people,  as  likewise  the  more 
elevated,  called  him  their  father ;  so  he  was  careful,  beyond  a  doubt, 
that  they  would  always  remain  his  slaves,"  dvopdrtooa,  slaves, 
i.  e.  they  would  have  no  desire  to  change  their  situation. 

Amelburnus  translates  it  thus  :  "  Quos  autem  ad  serviendum  in- 
struebat,  eos  nee  ad  labores  ullos  liberates  excitabat,  nee  habere 
arma  sinebat :  studioseque  dabat  operam,  ne  unquam  liberalium 
exercitationum  causa  vel  cibo  vel  potu  carerent.  Permittebat  enim 
servis,  quoties  equitibus  feras  in  campos  adigerent,  ut  cibum  ad 
venationem  secum  sumerent ;  ingenuorum  vero  nemini.  Quando 
item  faciundum  erat  iter,  ad  aquas  eos,  perinde  ac  jumenta,  duce- 
bat.  Quum  prandii  tempus  erat,  expectabat  eos  donee  aliquid  come- 
dissent,  ne  furcilla  sive  fames  acrior  eos  affligeret.  Quo  fiebat  ut,  non 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  567 

aliter  ac  optimates,  etiam  hi  Cyrum  patrem  appellarent,  qui  curarc 
ipsorum  gereret  ut  semper  sine  dubio  mancipia  manerent." 

The  Oxford  translation,  which  was  published  in  1737,  has  per 
haps  made  the  Latin  more  classical,  but  has  strictly  adhered  to  the 
same  meaning  of  the  words  Sovhevetv  and  dv&pdnoSa.  We  give 
their  version  also,  that  the  curious  may  compare,  and  have  no 
doubt  about  this  matter.  It  reads  thus : 

"  Quos  autem  ad  serviendum  instruebat,  eos  nee  ad  se  in  labori- 
bus  ullis  liberalibus  exercendos  excitabat,  nee  habere  arma  sinebat. 
Studioseque  dabat  operam,  ne  unquam  liberalium  exercitationum 
causa  vel  cibo  vel  potu  carerent.  Etenim  his  permittebat,  ut  cibum  ad 
venationem  secum  sumerent,  ingenuorum  vero  nemini :  quando  item 
faciendum  erat  iter,  ad  aquas  eos,  perinde  ac  jumenta,  ducebat. 
Et  cum  prandii  tempus  erat,  expectabat  eos  donee  aliquid  come- 
dissent  ne  fames  ingens  eos  invaderet ;  quo  fiebat  ut  etiam  hi,  non 
aliter  ac  optimates,  Cyrum  patrem  appellarent,  qui  curam  ipsorum 
gereret  ut  semper  sine  dubio  mancipia  manerent." 

We  deem  it  proper  to  add  a  word  concerning  the  use  of  this 
term,  especially  as  some,  who  claim  to  be  learned  divines,  also 
claim  that  Paul  by  its  use  totally  forbid  slavery.  See  Barnes,  on 
Slavery,  p.  355.  He  says — "  '  The  law  is  made  for  mamtealers,' 
dv8pa7toSiGral$,  1  Tim.  i.  9,  10.  The  meaning  of  this  word  has 
been  before  considered.  It  needs  only  to  be  remarked  here,  that 
the  essential  idea  of  the  term  is  that  of  converting  a  freeman  into  a 
slave.  Thus  Passon  defines  the  word  OLvSpcuTtoSiOfiogj  andrapodismos: 
Verwandlung  eines  freyen  Mannes  in  einen  Sklaven,  besonders 
durch  Varkauf,  Unterjochung,  U.  S.  W. :  a  changing  of  a  freeman 
into  a  slave,  especially  by  traffic,  subjection,  &c.  Now,  somehow 
this  'conversion  of  a  freeman  into  a  slave,'  the  sin  forbidden  in 
the  passage  before  us,  occurs  essentially  in  the  case  of  every  one 
who  ever  becomes  a  slave." 

We  know  not  why  Mr.  Barnes  chose  to  go  to  a  Dutch  dictionary 
for  his  quotation,  since  he  might  have  found  the  true  signification 
in  that  of  any  schoolboy. 

But  we  think  it  a  singular  argument  that,  because  andrapodismos 
means  the  making  or  selling  a  slave,  andrapodistais  means  the 
exact  same  thing.  The  truth  is,  the  essential  idea  conveyed  by 
this  word  is  slave,  slavery,  &c.  If  I  wish  to  say  "  stealing  a  slave," 
I  use  one  form  of  it;  if  "  selling  a  slave,"  another,  and  so  on ;  but 
the  stealing  a  freeman  with  the  view  to  make  Mm  a  slave  was  not 
expressed  by  this  word,  or  any  form  of  it.  The  Greeks  used  the 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


term  anihropokUptais^  but  the  legal  reduction  of  a  man  to  slavery 
was  quite  a  different  matter.  St.  Paul's  animadversion  compre 
hended  the  idea  of  slavery  and  stealing,  —  what  ?  a  freeman,  or 
a  slave  ?  Had  it  been  a  freeman  that  occupied  the  objective  case, 
it  is  presumable  that  his  language  would  have  had  some  analogy  to 
that  used  in  the  Septuagint,  Deut.  xxiv.  7. 

This  word,  or  some  form  of  it,  is  of  most  frequent  occurrence 
in  the  Greek  authors.  We  need  quote  but  a  few  passages  to  show 
their  use  of  the  term,  whether  it  included  the  idea  of  a  freeman, 
or  only  that  of  a  slave.  Thucydides,  Leipsic  edition,  1829  : 

01  <5'  3A$7ivaioi  ovrs  rd/lXa  vnnxovov,  ovve  <ro  aj^tcr^ 
fyovv,  £7tixa^ovvreg  srf  epyaotav  MeyapevGi  trig  yng  trig 
xal  trig  dopiatov,  xal  dv§pan6&uv  v7to&o%ry  T& 
vuv. 

"  But  the  Athenians  listened  to  none  of  these  demands,  nor 
would  revoke  the  decree,  but  reproached  the  Megarians  for  tilling 
land  that  was  sacred,  land  not  marked  out  for  culture,  and  for 
giving  shelter  to  runaway  slaves." 

Vol.  ii.  p.  138.     Al  $e  vneg  TtspisTtfavtiav,  ra 


"  But  the  vessels  came  back  along  the  coast,  on  board  of  which 
were  the  slaves." 

Idem.  Kai  td  dvSpdnoSa  dneboaav. 
"And  here  they  offered  the  slaves  for  sale." 
P.  118.  'AvSpdrtoSa  'Txxapixoi  —  "Hyccarian  slaves." 
P.  201.  Kai,  dvSpdrtoSuv  nhsov  n  $vo  [tvpiabeg 


"And  more  than  twenty  thousand  slaves  had  deserted." 

P.  314.  Kai,  GXSVYI  [lev  xal  dvfydno^a  dpnaynv 
tovg  Ss  ehev&spov  g  Ttdhiv  xaroixttfag,  en  *'A(3v8ov  ri 

"  He  gave  up  all  the  effects  and  slaves  to  pillage,  and  after 
establishing  such  as  were  free  people  in  their  old  habitations,  he 
went  against  Abydos." 

The  instances  of  the  use  of  this  word  are  so  frequent  that  we 
know  not  whether  more  of  them  should  not  be  given  ;  but  may  we 
not  presume  that  those  who  read  the  language  have  some  know 
ledge  of  the  matter  ?  and  we  therefore  ask  them  to  relieve  us  from 
that  burden.  We  think  it  no  hazard  to  maintain  the  fact  that 
'^co,  its  cognates  and  derivatives,  both  nouns  and  adjec- 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  569 

lives,  are  never  used  in  the  Gr.eek  language  unassociated  with  the 
idea  of  slavery.  If  so,  then  it  follows  that  the  idea  stealing,  as  it 
existed  in  the  mind  of  St.  Paul,  was  not  associated  with  the  idea 
"man"  but  "slave"  and  that  he  used  the  term  d^ 
andrapodistais,  to  express  the  idea  "slave-stealers." 


LESSON  XII. 


BUT  as  the  verb  avfyaTtobifa,  andrapodizo,  and  its  conjugates, 
are  sometimes  used  to  express  the  action  of  subjecting  to  slavery, 
it  is  asked,  how  are  we  to  know  whether  Paul  did  not  mean  such 
subjugation?     It  was  surely  in  the    compass  of  the  Greek  lan 
guage  for  Paul  so  to  have  used  the  proper  mood  and  tense  of  this 
verb,  with  other  suitable  words,  and  effectually  forbid  the  subject 
ing  of  others  to  slavery.     But  is  it  probable  he  could  have  con 
sistently  done  so  ?  Such  forbidding  would  have  been  forbidding  what 
the  law  prescribed.     It  would  have  been  a  rebellious  teaching 
against  the  laws  of  the  land,  as  well  as  against  the  laws  delivered 
to  Moses  for  the  civil  government  of  the  Israelites.     "  When  thou 
comest  nigh  unto  a  city  to  fight  against  it,  thou  shalt  proclaim 
peace  unto  it  ;  and  it  shall  be,  if  it  make  answer  of  peace,  and 
open  unto  thee,  then  it  shall  be,  that  all  the  people  that  are  found 
therein  shall  be  tributaries  unto  thee,  and  they  shall  serve  thee," 
nnnjn  va  abaduka,  be  slaves  to  thee—  and  they  shall  be  slaves  to 
thee.)    ""But  if  it  will  make  no  peace  with  thee,  but  will  make 
war   against   thee,  then   thou    shalt    besiege  it:    and   when  the 
Lord  thy  God  hath  delivered  it  into  thy  hands,  thou  shalt  smite 
every  male  thereof  with  the  edge  of  the  sword.     But  the  women, 
and  the  little  ones,  and  the   cattle,  and  all  that  is  in  the  city, 
even  all  the  spoil  thereof,  shalt  thou  take  to  thyself."  Deut.  xx. 
10-14. 

Such,  substantially,  was  the  law  of  all  nations  at  the  very  time 
Paul  wrote  to  Timothy.  The  verb  proposed  the  making  of  a  slave  in 
a  legal  manner,  reducing  to  the  condition  alluded  to  by  the  prophet. 
"  Shall  the  prey  be  taken  from  the  mighty,  or  the  lawful  captive 
restored  ?"  Isa.  xlix.  24.  The  verb  andrapodizo  expressed  a  law 
ful  act.  If  individuals,  without  law,  had  seized  upon  the  others 
with  the  view  to  make  them  slaves,  such  act  would  have  been 
called  by  a  different  name.  It  would  not  have  been  a  name  formed 


570  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


from  dvr(p  and  710%,  (aner  and  pous,)  unaccompanied  by  explana 
tions.  We  have  an  example  before  us  in  Deut.  xxiv.  7 :  "If  any 
man  be  found  stealing  any  of  his  brethren  of  the  children  of  Is 
rael,  and  maketh  merchandise  of  him,  or  selleth  him,  then  that 
thief  shall  die."  Here  the  individual  stolen  was  not  a  slave, 
either  by  the  laws  of  God  or  man :  and  hence  we  find  that  the 
Septuagint  uses  no  word  to  signify  slave.  The  passage  reads 
thus : 

3Ecu>  8s  a/lw  cb&pcoTtog  xftbtffGyv  ^V%YIV  sx  f&v  d8e^G)v 
avrov  T&v  vi&v  3I<7pari/l,  xal  xcrtaSvvaGVevGag  avvov  dnobciffai, 
GLTtoSavelvai  6  x^enr^g  exelvog. 

And  had  St.  Paul  merely  in  his  mind  the  idea  man-stealing, 
unconnected  with  slavery,  he  would  have  used  analogous  language. 
In  the  passage  in  Timothy,  he  might  well  have  used  the  term 
dj'3>pQ7l02£/le7iT'ou$?  anthropokleptais,  which  would  have  expressed 
the  same  thing, — an  unlawful  act,  an  act  forbidden  in  the  passage 
just  quoted, — the  act  of  stealing  a  freeman,  with  an  intention  of 
making  him  a  slave,  contrary  to  law ;  and  Paul  would  have  pro 
bably  added  this  offence,  if  the  Ephesians  had  been  guilty  of  the 
crime.  But  Paul  did  not  use  a  word  even  conjugated  from 
d^paTto&'^G),  andrapodizo,  but  a  cognate  substantive,  used  almost 
technically  to  mean  those  who  stole  slaves,  not  freemen. 

The  word  used  by  Paul  is  translated  into  Latin,  in  the  Vulgate, 
by  the  word  plagiarize,  which  also  means  those  who  stole 
slaves.  It  is  formed  from  plagiger,  one  born  to  be  whipped, 
(the  Romans  were  cruel  to  their  slaves,)  and  areo,  to  be  parched 
up,  to  be  thirsty,  and  hence  plagiarius,  from  the  notion  that  ho 
who  stole  slaves  coveted  the  slave  with  such  intensity  that  he 
thirsted  for  the  slave,  and  appropriated  him  to  himself  as  a  thirsty 
man  does  water.  It  originally  was  a  mere  cant  word.  But  it 
expressed  the  contempt  the  Romans  entertained  for  the  act  of 
slave-stealing.  Hence  has  come  our  word  plagiary ;  only  used 
now  to  mean  the  act  of  appropriating  the  literary  property  of 
another,  but  still  retaining,  to  some  extent,  the  expression  of  con 
tempt.  The  learned  men  who  translated  the  New  Testament  into 
Latin  well  knew  that  Paul  told  Timothy  that  the  law  was  made 
against  those  who  stole  slaves :  and  so  we  find  it,  Thou  shalt  not 
steal.  Thou  shalt  not  even  covet  thy  neighbour's  slave.  (See 
Exod.  xx.  15,  17 ;  also  Deut.  v.  19,  20.)  Had  Paul  used  the 
word  andrapodizo,  or  some  form  of  it,  and  had  he  really  intended 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  571 


to  have  told  Timothy  that  he  or  others  should  no  longer,  under  any 
circumstances,  subject  others  to  slavery,  or  under  the  Christian 
dispensation  he  should  not;  that  Christianity  forbid  it;  yet  he 
could  not  have  been  so  shallow  as  to  have  added  the  sentiment 
that  it  was  against  the  law,  for  such  addition,  such  part  of  his 
instruction,  Timothy  would  have  at  once  known  to  be  not  true ; 
and  we  trust  but  few  will  entertain  a  position  so  full  of  gross  con 
sequences.  This  discourse  to  Timothy  was  founded  upon  the  fact 
that  "some  had  swerved"  from  the  end  of  the  law,  and  turned  to 
vain  jangling,  desiring  to  be  teachers  of  the  law,  understanding 
neither  what  they  say  nor  whereof  they  affirm, — probably  teach 
ing  doctrines  that  led  essentially  to  the  crimes  here  exposed. 
Paul's  object,  in  part,  was  to  expose  their  ignorance  and  wicked 
ness,  to  sustain  the  supremacy  of  the  law,  and  by  his  counsel  to 
warn  him  against  a  shipwreck  of  faith,  as  in  the  case  of  Hymeneus 
and  Alexander. 

Can  it  be  supposed  that  under  such  circumstances  he  would  have 
undertaken  to  have  repealed  a  law,  or  to  have  asserted  that  the 
law  prohibited  what  it  sustained  ?  In  such  case,  he  would  have 
done  the  very  act  himself  for  which  he  condemned  Hymeneus  and 
Alexander,  and  have  proved  himself  one  of  the  lawless  and  disobe 
dient,  for  whom  the  law  was  made. 

There  is  another  consideration,  which  to  our  mind  is  of  moment 
in  the  review  of  this  subject.  The  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  never 
undertook  to  meddle  with  the  civil  institutions  of  the  law.  Its 
object  was  to  make  its  devotees  happy  under  and  resigned  to  its 
adjudications,  whatever  they  may  have  been,  by  reason  of  the 
greater  considerations  of  a  hereafter ;  nor  do  we  recollect  an  in 
stance  where  either  Christ  or  his  apostles  even  suggested  any 
repeal.  His  kingdom  was  not  of  this  world,  and  therefore  his  fol 
lowers  could  not  act  in  reference  to  the  things  of  this  world. 
Peter  in  his  zeal  smote  off  the  ear  of  the  slave  of  the  high-priest, 
but  Christ  immediately  rebuked  the  act  and  restored  the  injury 
done.  Had  Paul  intended  to  have  suggested  that  the  subjecting 
to  slavery,  as  that  subject  then  existed  and  ever  had  from  thfe 
time  of  Moses,  was  no  longer  to  be  countenanced,  then,  it  seems  to 
us,  he  would  have  travelled  beyond  the  mission  of  an  apostle,  the 
precepts  of  his  Master,  and  out  of  his  kingdom  into  the  problem 
atical  questions  of  civil  government. 

Paul,  in  the  passage  before  us,  enumerates  a  class  of  the  breaches 
of  the  law  which  came  within  the  view  of  Timothy,  which  breaches 


572  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

of  the  law  he  pronounces  to  be  "  contrary  to  sound  doctrine,"  and 
ri  to  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God,  which  was  committed 
to  my  trust,"  having  previously  notified  him  "that  the  law  was 
good  if  a  man  use  it  lawfully."  Now,  one  of  the  plain  and  well- 
known  laws  on  the  subject  of  slavery  was,  "  Both  thy  bond-men 
and  thy  bond-maids  which  thou  shalt  have,  shall  be  of  the  heathen 
that  are  around  about  you;  of  them  shall  you  buy  bond-men  and 
bond-maids.  Moreover,  of  the  children  of  the  strangers  that  do 
sojourn  among  you,  of  them  shall  ye  buy,  and  their  families  that 
are  with  you,  which  they  beget  in  your  land,  and  they  shall  be 
your  possession.  And  ye  shall  take  them  as  an  inheritance  for 
your  children  after  you,  to  inherit  them  for  a  possession.  They 
shall  be  your  bond-men  for  ever." 

Under  such  a  state  of  facts  can  any  thing  be  conceived  more  in 
consistent,  than  that  Paul  should,  under  such  circumstances,  design 
to  slip  in  a  word  repealing  in  fact  this  law,  and  directly  producing 
all  the  other  ill  effects  which  he  so  pointedly  complained  of  in 
others.  Whoever  can  believe  such  a  thing,  surely,  whatever  he 
may  pretend,  can  have  no  respect  for  the  character  of  Paul,  nor 
for  his  religion. 

But  the  character  of  Paul  remains  consistent,  his  religion  un 
blemished  and  spotless,  and  the  preaching  of  Jesus  Christ  in  rela 
tion  to  the  matter  vindicated  and  supported,  by  giving  to  the  word 
andrapodistais,  as  here  used  by  Paul,  its  plain,  legitimate,  and 
usual  meaning,  slave- stealers,  persons  who  steal,  or  entice  away 
from  the  possession  of  their  masters,  individuals  who  according  to 
the  law  are  slaves. 


LESSON  XIII. 

THE  inquiry  naturally  occurs,  how  happened  it  that  St.  Paul 
found  it  necessary  to  instruct  and  inform  Timothy  that  the  law 
forbid  the  stealing  or  enticing  away  other  men's  slaves.  By  an 
examination  of  his  writings  and  letters  to  the  Gentile  churches, 
the  fact  is  plainly  proven  that  there  had  grown  up  among  them  some 
new  doctrines,  which  his  office  as  apostle  made  it  his  duty  to  repre 
hend.  What  these  doctrines  were  we  are  enabled  in  some  measure  to 
discover,  by  examining  the  Tth  of  the  1st  Corinthians,  which  com- 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  573 

mences  thus  :  "Now  concerning  the  things  whereof  ye  wrote  unto 
me,"  disclosing  the  fact  that  the  Corinthians  had  written  to  him 
for  advice  and  counsel,  whom  he  now  answers  with  instructions 
against  the  abolition  of  marriage,  and  against  the  abolition  of 
slavery,  &c. 

Some  of  the  Gentile  churches  advocated  the  doctrine  that  if  a 
man  or  a  woman  of  the  faith  were  married  to  one  not  of  the  faith, 
that  such  marriage  should  be  abolished  ;  so  also,  that  a  slave  of  the 
faith  should  be  set  free,  and  especially  from  his  believing  master  ; 
so  also,  the  believing  child  should  be  discharged  from  the  authority 
of  the  unbelieving  parents.  The  promulgation  of  these  doctrines 
filled  society  with  disorder  there,  and  the  church  with  confusion. 
In  his  lesson  to  Timothy,  he  complains  of  the  doctrines  taught 
by  Hymeneus  and  Alexander,  as  blasphemous.  Now,  in  this  same 
lesson,  he  applies  this  epithet  to  these  new  abolition  doctrines,  leav 
ing  us  plainly  to  infer  that  these  doctrines  were  also  taught  by 
them,  and  for  which  he  "delivered"  them  "unto  Satan."  And  here 
we  have  a  connecting  link  between  this  lesson  to  Timothy  and  his 
whole  instruction  to  the  Gentile  churches  on  tjiis  subject.  But 
these  doctrines,  as  taught  by  Hymeneus  and  Alexander,  or  others 
analogous,  have  found  advocates  ever  since  ;  for  folly  has  never 
been  so  foolish  nor  wickedness  so  wicked  as  not  to  find  followers. 
These  new  doctrines  Paul  reprehended  in  many  other  places,  and 
touching  the  subject  of  our  present  inquiry,  let  us  examine  how  he 
treated  the  matter  during  the  time  of  his  apostleship. 

"  Let  every  man  abide  in  the  same  calling  wherein  he  was  called. 
Art  thou  called  being  a  servant,  (<5oi;Xog,  doulos,  slave,}  care  not 
for  it ;  but  if  thou  mayest  be  made  free,  use  it  rather.  For  he 
that  is  called  in  the  Lord,  being  a  servant,  (Soivtog,  doulos,  slave,) 
is  the  Lord's  freeman  ;  likewise,  also,  he  that  is  called,  being  free, 
is  Christ's  servant,  (&)i;/log,  doulos,  slave.}  Ye  are  bought  with  a 
price ;  be  ye  not  the  servant  (ckuvtog,  doulos,  slave)  of  men. 
Brethren,  let  every  man,  wherein  he  is  called,  therein  abide  with 
God."  1  Cor.  vii.  20-24.  And  this  is  consistent  with  his  introduc 
tion  to  the  subject  in  the  17th  verse  :  "  But  as  God  hath  distributed 
to  every  man,  as  the  Lord  hath  called  every  one,  so  let  him  walk, 
and  so  ordain  I  in  all  churches."  Compare  this  with  his  instruc 
tion  to  Titus:  "Exhort  servants  (Soi'Xovg,  doulous,  slaves,)  to  be 
obedient  unto  their  own  masters,  and  to  please  them  well  in  all  things. 
Not  answering  again,  not  purloining,  but  showing  all  good  fidelity  ; 
that  they  may  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour  in  all  things. 


574  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

For  the  grace  of  God  that  bringeth  salvation  hath  appeared  to  all 
men,  teaching  us  that,  denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  WQ 
should  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly  in  this  present  world  ; 
looking  for  that  blessed  hope,  and  the  glorious  appearing  of  the 
great  God,  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ ;  who  gave  himself  for  us, 
that  he  might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and  purify  unto  himself 
a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good  works.  These  things  speak,  and 
exhort,  and  rebuke  with  all  authority.  Let  no  man  despise  thee." 
Titus  ii.  9-15. 

And  to  the  Oolossians :  "Servants,  (<5oi)/l(H,  douloi,  slaves,) 
obey  in  all  things  your  masters  according  to  the  flesh ;  not  with 
eye-service,  as  men-pleasers ;  but  in  singleness  of  heart,  fearing  God  : 
and  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  it  heartily,  as  to  the  Lord,  and  not  unto 
men ;  knowing  that  of  the  Lord  ye  shall  receive  the  reward  of 
the  inheritance  :  for  ye  serve  (Sovtevetet  douleuete,  ye  slave  your 
selves  to)  the  Lord  Christ.  But  he  that  doeth  wrong  shall  re 
ceive  for  the  wrong  which  he  hath  done :  and  there  is  no  respect 
of  persons.  Masters,  give  unto  your  servants  (Soi&oig,  doulois, 
slaves)  that  which  is  just  and  equal ;  knowing  that  ye  also  have  a 
Master  in  heaven."  Qol.  iii.  22,  25 ;  iv.  1. 

And  to  the  Ephesians :  "  Servants,  ((fcivlot,  douloi,  slaves,)  be 
obedient  to  them  that  are  your  masters  according  to  the  flesh,  with 
fear  and  trembling,  in  singleness  of  your  heart,  as  unto  Christ ; 
not  with  eye-service  (ofyOatyoftovfaiav,  ophthalmodouleian,  slavery 
to  the  eye)  as  men-pleasers  ;  but  as  the  servants  (Sov^OL,  douloi, 
slaves)  of  Christ,  doing  the  will  of  God  from  the  heart ;  with 
good-will  doing  service  (Sovfavovtss,  douleuontes,  slaving  your 
selves)  as  to  the  Lord,  and  not  to  men ;  knowing  that  whatsoever 
good  thing  any  man  doeth,  the  same  shall  he  receive  of  the  Lord, 
whether  he  be  bond  ($oi)/log,  doulos,  slave)  or  free  (g/lei^epog, 
eleutheros,  a  freeman).  And  ye  masters,  do  the  same  things  unto 
them,  forbearing  threatening :  knowing  that  your  Master  is  also 
in  heaven,  neither  is  there  respect  of  persons  with  him."  EpJi. 
vi.  5-9. 

And,  finally,  to  Timothy :  "  Let  as  many  servants  (5oi>/lo^ 
douloi,  slaves)  as  are  under  the  yoke  count  their  own  masters 
worthy  of  all  honour,  that  the  name  of  God  and  his  doctrine  be 
not  blasphemed.  And  they  that  have  believing  masters,  let  them 
not  despise  them  because  they  are  brethren  ;  but  rather  do  them 
service,  (SovfavsttiGav,  do  them  slave-labour,)  because  they  are 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  575 


faithful  and  beloved,  partakers  of  the  benefit.  These  things  teach 
and  exhort.  If  any  man  teach  otherwise,  and  consent  not  to 
wholesome  words,  even  the  words  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
to  the  doctrine  which  is  according  to  godliness,  he  is  proud, 
knowing  nothing,  but  doting  about  questions  and  strifes  of  words, 
whereof  cometh  envy,  strife,  railings,  evil  surmisings,  perverse 
disputings  of  men  of  corrupt  minds,  and  destitute  of  the  truth, 
supposing  that  gain  is  godliness :  from  such  withdraw  thyself. 
But  godliness  with  contentment  is  great  gain.  For  we  brought 
nothing  into  this  world,  and  it  is'  certain  we  can  carry  nothing  out. 
And  having  food  and  raiment,  let  us  be  therewith  content.  .But 
they  that  will  be  rich  fall  into  temptation  and  a  snare,  and  into 
many  foolish  and  hurtful  lusts,  which  drown  men  in  destruction 
and  perdition.  For  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil : 
which  while  some  coveted  after,  they  have  erred  from  the  faith, 
and  pierced  themselves  through  with  many  sorrows.  But  thou, 

0  man  of  God,  flee  these  things ;  and  follow  after  righteousness, 
godliness,  faith,  love,  patience,  meekness.     Fight  the  good  fight 
of  faith,  lay  hold  on  eternal  life,  whereunto  tbou  art  also   called, 
and  hast  professed  a  good  profession  before  many  witnesses.     I 
give  thee  charge  in  the   sight  of  God,  who  quickeneth  all  things, 
and  before  Christ  Jesus,  who  before  Pontius  Pilate  witnessed  a 
good  confession,  that  thou  keep  this  commandment  without  spot, 
unrebukable,   until  the    appearing   of  our   Lord   Jesus    Christ." 

1  Tim.  vi.  1-14. 

From  the  arguments  here  presented  to  Timothy  in  support  of 
the  doctrine  which  Paul  invariably  taught  in  relation  to  slavery, 
we  may  well  suppose  he  felt  a  deep  interest,  even  anxiety,  to  pre 
vent  these  new  doctrines  from  affecting  Timothy's  mind  in  their 
favour ;  and  we  cannot  but  notice,  that  while,  with  the  dignified 
authority  of  an  apostolic  teacher,  his  instructions  are  full,  distinct, 
and  certain,  yet  they  are  accompanied  with  a  courteousness  of 
explanation  consolatory  even  to  the  slave,  the  subject  of  them, 
and  with  a  solemnity  of  attestation  that  fathoms  the  very  founda 
tion  of  the  Christian  faith. 


576  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


LESSON  XIV. 

JESUS  CHRIST  announced  to  the  Jews  that  whosoever  com- 
mitteth  sin  is  the  servant  (Sou/log,  doulos,  slave)  of  sin ;  that  the 
servant  (Soivlog,  doulos,  slave)  abideth  not  in  the  house  for  ever,  but 
the  son  abideth  ever,  &c.;  therefore,  if  the  son  make  them  free, 
they  shall  be  free  indeed,  &c.  Of  the  doctrine  here  inculcated  by 
the  Saviour  himself,  it  seems  to  us  St.  Paul  has  given  a  full  and 
happy  illustration  ;  and,  by  his  using  the  institution  of  slavery  as 
a  principal  medium  of  his  illustration,  and  by  referring  to  facts 
well-known  in  the  history  of  the  institution  of  slavery,  has  not 
only  recognised  its  existence,  but  also  that  it  existed  in  conformity 
with  the  ordinances  of  God  :  and  we  deem  his  illustration  not  the 
less  valuable,  because  it  explains  what  is  meant  by,  and  how  we  are 
to  understand,  the  Christian  equality  of  all  in  that  church.  In 
addition  to  what  we  have  already  read  from  his  writings,  we  may 
also  notice,  "  Is  the  law  then  against  the  promises  of  God  ?  God 
forbid ;  for  if  there  had  been  a  law  given  which  could  have  given 
life,  verily  righteousness  should  have  come  by  the  law.  But  the 
scripture  hath  concluded  all  under  sin,  that  the  promise  by  faith 
of  Jesus  Christ  might  be  given  to  them  that  believe.  But  before 
faith  came,  we  were  kept  under  the  law,  shut  up  unto  the  faith 
which  should  afterwards  be  revealed.  Wherefore  the  law  was 
our  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  unto  Christ,  that  we  might  be  justi 
fied  by  faith.  But  after  that  faith  is  come,  we  are  no  longer  under 
a  schoolmaster.  For  ye  are  all  the  children  of  God  by  faith  in  Christ 
Jesus.  For  as  many  of  you  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ, 
have  put  on  Christ.  There  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is 
neither  bond  (ooivlog,  doulos,  slave)  nor  free,  there  is  neither  male 
nor  female :  for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus.  And  if  ye  be 
Christ's,  then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed,  and  heirs  according  to  the 
promise."  G-al.  iii.  21-29. 

"Now  I  say,  that  the  heir,  as  long  as  he  is  a  child,  diifereth 
nothing  from  a  servant,  (&>i&og,  doulos,  slave)  though  he  be  lord 
of  all ;  but  is  under  tutors  and  governors  until  the  time  appointed 
of  the  father.  Even  so  we,  when  we  were  children,  were  in  bond 
age  (&ebovfa>(J£voi,  dedoulomenoi,  a  state  of  slavery)  under  the  ele- 


STUDIES   ON  SLAVERY.  577 

ments  of  the  world.  But  when  the  fulness  of  the  time  was  come, 
God  sent  forth  his  Son,  made  of  a  woman,  made  under  the  law, 
to  redeem  them  that  were  under  the  law,  that  we  might  receive  the 
adoption  of  sons.  And  because  ye  are  sons,  God  hath  sent  forth  the 
Spirit  of  his  Son  into  your  hearts,  crying,  Abba,  Father.  Where 
fore  thou  art  no  more  a  servant,  (Soivlog,  doulos,  slave,)  but  a  son  ; 
and  if  a  son,  then  an  heir  of  God  through  Christ.  Howbeit  then, 
when  ye  knew  not  God,  ye  did  service  (s&ovfavGare,  edouleusate, 
did  slave  yourselves)  unto  them  which  by  nature  are  no  gods.  But 
now,  after  that  ye  have  known  God,  or  rather  are  known  of  God, 
how  turn  ye  again  to  the  weak  and  beggarly  elements,  whereunto 
ye  desire  again  to  be  in  bondage  ?"  (SovteveiVy  douleuein,  to  be  in 
slavery.)  G-al.  iv.  1-9. 

"  Tell  me,  ye  that  desire  to  be  under  the  law,  do  ye  not  hear  the 
law  ?  For  it  is  written,  that  Abraham  had  two  sons  ;  the  one  by 
a  bond-maid,  (Ttai&GxYig,  paidiskes,  a  favourite  female  slave,)  and 
the  other  by  a  free-woman.  But  he  who  was  of  the  bond-woman 
(Ttat&'cr^g,  paidiskes,  a  favourite  female  slave)  was  born  after  the 
flesh,  but  he  of  the  free-woman  was  by  promise.  Which  things  are 
an  allegory :  for  these  are  the  two  covenants ;  the  one  from  the 
mount  Sinai  in  Arabia,  which  gendereth  to  bondage,  (Sovfaiav, 
douleian,  slavery,)  which  is  Agar.  For  this  Agar  is  mount  Sinai  in 
Arabia,  and  answereth  to  Jerusalem  which  now"  is,  and  is  in  bond 
age  (Sovfavsi,  douleuei,  slavery)  with  her  children.  But  Jerusa 
lem  which  is  above  is  free,  which  is  the  mother  of  us  all."  Gral.  iv. 
21-26. 

"Now  we,  brethren,  as  Isaac  was,  are  the  children  of  promise. 
But  as  then  he  that  was  born  after  the  flesh  persecuted  him  that 
was  born  after  the  Spirit,  even  so  it  is  now.  Nevertheless,  what 
saith  the  scripture  ?  Cast  out  the  bond-woman  (nai&GxYiv, 
paidisken,  favourite  female  slave)  and  her  son  :  for  the  son  of  the 
bond- woman  (Ttat&'cr^g,  paidiskes,  favourite  female  slave)  shall  not 
be  heir  with  the  son  of  the  free-woman.  So  then,  brethren,  we 
are  not  children  of  the  bond-woman,  (naibiGxyjg,  paidiskes,  favour 
ite  female  slave,)  but  of  the  free.  Stand  fast  therefore  in  the 
liberty  wherewith  Christ  hath  made  us  free,  and  be  not  entangled 
again  with  the  yoke  of  bondage,"  (8ovheiag,  douleias,  slavery.) 
Gal  iv..  29-31,  v.  1. 

In  these  lessons  of  Paul  we  not  only  find  the  Greek  use  of  the 
word  "doulos."  but  we  find  also  the  doctrine  that  slavery  is  the 

37 


578  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

quotient  of  sin.  It  is  true  he  often  uses  the  word  figuratively  to 
illustrate  the  devotion  and  obedience  of  the  humble  followeis  of 
Jesus  Christ ;  but  in  him  who  spurns  obedience  to  the  laws  of  God, 
and  rejects  the  faith  of  the  gospel,  the  character  is  fixed  and  per 
manent,  as  is  the  course  of  conduct  that  gives  it. 

While  in  this  portion  of  our  present  Study,  we  desire  to  bring  to 
mind  the  word  doulos  and  its  cognates,  as  used  in  the  ancient  Greek 
Scriptures,  with  the  design  that  it  may  be  easily  compared  with 
its  use  by  the  classical  authors  in  that  language.  We  shall  be 
happy  if  successful  in  the  attempt  to  present  it  in  such  form  that 
the  mind  may  acknowledge  the  doctrine  inculcated  to  be  consistent 
with  the  justice  of  Divine  providence  and  the  mercy  of  a  redeem 
ing  love ;  that  the  deduction  shall  be  evident ;  that  slavery  is 
a  creation  of  Divine  justice  upon  the  model  of  mercy,  every  way 
adapted  to  benefit  the  most  degenerate  and  wicked  races  of  man 
kind  ;  and  that  its  whole  action  manifests  the  principle,  that  he 
whom  the  Father  loveth,  him  he  chasteneth ; — and  such,  indeed,  is 
the  object  of  our  entire  study. 


LESSON  XV. 

FROM  the  writings  of  St.  Paul,  we  deem  the  deduction  clear, 
that  he  considered  slavery  to  be  a  consequent  of  sin,  and  plainly 
set  it  forth  in  his  address  to  the  Romans.  "Wherefore  as  by  one  man 
sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death  by  sin,  and  so  death  passed 
upon  all  men,  for  that  all  have  sinned.  For  until  (tt#p(,  achri, 
as  far  as — see  Iliad,  xvii.  599)  the  law,  sin  was  in  the  world :  but 
sin  is  not  imputed  where  there  is  no  law.  Nevertheless,  death 
reigned  from  Adam  to  Moses,  even  over  them  that  had  not  sinned 
after  the  similitude  of  Adam's  transgression,  who  is  the  figure  of 
him  that  was  to  come."  Horn.  v.  12—24. 

"  Know  ye  not,  that  to  whom  ye  yield  yourselves  servants 
(Soivloi'$,  doulousj  slaves)  to  obey,  his  servants  (Sov/lot,  douloi,  slaves) 
ye  are  to  whom  ye  obey ;  whether  of  sin  unto  death,  or  of  obedi 
ence  unto  righteousness  ?  But  God  be  thanked,  that  ye  were  the 
servants  (SovTioi,  douloi,  slaves)  of  sin,  but  ye  have  obeyed  from 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  579 

the  heart  that  form  of  doctrine  which  was  delivered  you.  Being 
then  made  free  from  sin,  ye  became  the  servants  (eSovTiCtOyve, 
edoulothete,  ye  enslaved  yourselves)  to  righteousness  unto  holi 
ness.  For  when  ye  were  the  servants  (Sou/lot,  douloi,  slaves)  of 
sin,  ye  were  free  from  righteousness.  What  fruit  had  ye  then,  in 
those  things  whereof  ye  are  now  ashamed  ?  for  the  end  of  those 
things  is  death.  But  now,  being  free  from  sin,  and  become  ser 
vants  (oovfaaOsweg,  doulotJientes,  slaving  yourselves)  to  God,  ye 
have  fruit  unto  holiness,  and  in  the  end  everlasting  life.  For  the 
wages  of  sin  is  death :  but  the  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life,  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  Rom.  vi.  16-23. 

"  For  as  many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are  the  sons 
of  God.  For  ye  have  not  received  the  spirit  of  bondage  (5oi$.«'ag, 
douleias,  slavery)  again  to  fear,  but  ye  have  received  the  spirit 
of  adoption,  whereby  we  cry,  Abba,  Father.  The  Spirit  itself 
beareth  witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we  are  the  children  of  God ; 
and  if  children,  then  heirs :  heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with 
Christ :  if  so  be  that  we  suffer  with  him,  that  we  may  be  also 
glorified  together.  For  I  reckon,  that  the  sufferings  of  this  pre 
sent  time  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory  which 
shall  be  revealed  in  us.  For  the  earnest  expectation  of  the 
creature  waiteth  for  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God.  For 
the  creature  was  made  subject  to  vanity,  not  willingly,  but  by  rea 
son  of  him  who  hath  subjected  the  same  in  hope.  Because  the 
creature  itself  also  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  (&>ivteio$, 
douleias,  slavery)  of  corruption,  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the 
children  of  God.  For  we  know  that  the  whole  creation  groaneth 
and  travaileth  in  pain  together  until  now :  and  not  only  they,  but 
ourselves  also,  which  have  the  firstfruits  of  the  Spirit,  even  we 
ourselves  groan  within  ourselves,  waiting  for  the  adoption,  to  wit, 
the  redemption  of  our  body."  Rom.  viii.  14-23.  "  So  then,  with 
the  mind  I  myself  serve  (Sovhevu,  douleuo,  slave  myself  to)  the 
law  of  God,  but  with  the  flesh  the  law  of  sin."  Rom.  vii.  25.  "For 
they  that  are  such  serve  (Sovfavovaw,  douleuousin,  slave  them 
selves  to)  not  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  but  their  own  belly."  Rom. 
xvi.  18. 

The  word  "doulos"  is  used  by  Peter  in  a  similar  manner: 
"  For  so  is  the  will  of  God,  that  with  well-doing  ye  may  put  tc 
silence  the  ignorance  of  foolish  men :  as  free,  -not  using  your 
liberty  for  a  cloak  of  maliciousness,  but  as  the  servants  of  God," 
douloi,  slaves.)  Idem:  "  While  they  promise  them  liberty, 


-g0  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

they  themselves  are  the  servants,  (Sovfai,  douloi,  slaves)  of  cor 
ruption  :  for  of  whom  a  man  is  overcome,  of  the  same  is  he  brought 
in  bondage,"  (5e8oivU)Tat,  dedoulotai,  is  he  enslaved.) 

Further  instances  of  the  use  of  the  word  "doulos"  in  the  ori 
ginal  Greek  Scriptures  will  be  found  as  follows : — "  But  I  keep 
under  my  body  and  bring  it  into  subjection,  (SorXayo/d),  dou- 
lagogo,  and  guide  it  as  in  slavery,)  lest  that  by  any  means  when 
I  have  preached  to  others,  I  myself  should  be  a  castaway."  1  Cor. 
ix.  27.     "For  by  one  Spirit  we  are  all  baptized  into  one  body, 
whether  we  are  Jews  or  Gentiles,  whether  we  are  bond  (oovXot, 
douloi,  slaves)  or  free,  and  have  been  all  made  to  drink  into  one 
spirit."  1  Cor.  xii.  13.     "Where  there  is  neither  Greek  nor  Jew, 
circumcision     nor     uncircumcision,    barbarian,     Scythian,    bond 
(Soi&og,  doulos,   slave)   nor  free."    Col  iii.   11.      "As  ye  also 
learned  of  Epaphras,  our  dear  fellow-servant"  (GwMfav,  sun- 
doulou,  fellow-slave.)   Col  i.  7.     "  But  if  the  unbelieving  depart, 
let  him  depart ;  a  brother  or  a  sister  is  not  under  bondage  (oeoor- 
fartai,    dedoulotai,   is   enslaved)   in  such  cases."  1  Cor.   vii.  15. 
"For  ye  suffer  if  a  man  bring  you  into  bondage,"  (xaffaSovfol, 
katadouloi,  reduce  you  to  slavery,)  &c.    2  Cor.  xi.  20.     "For  he 
that  in  these  things  serveth  (<5oivt£rcret,  douleusei,  shall  slave  him 
self  to)  Christ  is  acceptable  to  God  and  approved  of  men."  Rom.  xiv. 
18.   "It  was  said  unto  her,  the  elder  shall  serve   (SovtevGei,  shall 
slave  himself  to)  the  younger;  for  it  is  written,  Jacob  have  I  loved, 
but  Esau  have  I  hated."  Rom.  ix.  12,  13.     "And  behold,  one  of 
them  which  were  with  Jesus,  stretched  out  his  hand,  and  drew  his 
sword,  and  struck  a  servant  (Sotifaw,  doulon,  slave)  of  the  high- 
priest,  and  smote  off  his  ear."  Matt.  xxvi.  51.     "And  one  of  them 
that  stood  by  drew  his  sword,  and  smote  a  servant  (Soi&ov,  doulon, 
slave,)   of  the  high-priest,  and  cut  off  his  ear."   Mark  xiv.  47. 
"And  one  of  them  smote  a  servant  (Sovfav,  doulon,  slave)  of  the 
high-priest,  and  cut  off  his  right  ear."    Luke  xxii.  50.     "Then 
Simon  Peter,  having  a  sword,  drew  it,  and  smote  the  high-priest's 
servant  (SoiAov,  doulon,  slave,)  and  cut  off  his  right  ear.     The 
servant's  (<5oivU)?  doulo,  slave)  name  was  Malchus."    "One  of  the 
servants  (&>1&£W,  doulon,  slaves)  of  the  high-priest  (being  his  kins 
man  whose  ear  Peter   cut   off)  saith,   Did  not  I  see  thee  in  the 
garden    with    him?"     John  xviii.    10,26.       "And    the    servants 
(Soi&oi,   douloi^  slaves)  and  officers  stood  there,  who  had  made  a 
fire  of  coals,  (for  it  was  cold,)  and  they  warmed  themselves :  and 
Peter  stood  with  them  and  warmed  himself."  John  xviii.  18. 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  581 

There  are  several  instances  where  the  word  is  used  figuratively, 
as  a  submissive  epithet,  as  an  example  of  which  we  cite  Acts  iv.  29 : 
"And  now,  Lord,  behold  their  threatenings,  and  grant  unto  thy 
servants  (Soi&o&g,  doulois,  slaves)  that  with  all  boldness  they 
may  speak  thy  word."  "And  God  spake  on  this  wise,  That  his 
seed  should  sojourn  in  a  strange  land ;  and  that  they  should  bring 
them  into  bondage,  (oovh^GovGiV,  doulosousin,  should  enslave 
them,)  and  entreat  them  evil  four  hundred  years.  And  the  nation 
to  whom  they  shall  be  in  bondage  (&ovfav6(dGi,  douleusosi,  to 
whom  they  shall  be  enslaved)  will  I  judge,  said  God."  Acts  vii.  6,  7. 
"Not  now  as  a  servant  (Sovfav,  doulon,  slave,)  but  above  a  servant, 
(Sovfov,  doulon,  slave,)  a  brother  beloved,"  &c.  Pliilem.  16. 
"Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  (Soi)fav9  doulon,  slave)  de 
part  in  peace."  Luke  ii.  29. 


LESSON  XVI. 

THE  English  words  servant,  to  serve,  service,  servile,  servilely, 
serving,  &c.  have  descended  into  the  language  from  the  Latin 
word  servus,  a  slave,  and  these  words,  when  first  introduced  into 
the  language,  as  distinctly  carried  with  them  the  idea  of  slavery  as 
does  now  our  present  term,  and  will  continue  to  do  so  wherever 
the  English  language  and  slavery  prevail.  In  no  slave-holding 
country  will  the  word  servant  be  applied  to  a  freeman  as  a  legiti 
mate  term  of  description,  but  in  non-slaveholding  communities 
these  words  are  sometimes  used  in  a  somewhat  different  sense,  yet 
erroneously,  because  they  are  then  used  without  adherence  to  their 
derivation  and  analogy.  These  words,  when  found  in  the  received 
translation  of  the  Christian  Scriptures,  are  in  the  most  of  instances 
translated  from  some  Greek  word  that  signified  or  included  the 
idea  slavery.  But  notwithstanding  the  obvious  error  in  giving 
the  word  servant,  &c.  as  the  translation  of  a  word  that  did  not 
carry  with  it  the  idea  which  was  in  unison  with  the  original  of 
these  words,  yet  we  find  some  few  instances  of  such  error.  We 
give  a  few  examples. 

"  Jesus  answered,  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world  :  if  my  king 
dom  were  of  this  world,  then  would  my  servants  fight."  John 
xviii.  36. 


582  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

Here  servants  is  translated  from  UTt^pg-Tcu,  huperetai,  and  signi 
fies  a  subordinate.  In  English  it  sometimes  requires  attendants, 
assistants,  inferior  officers,  &c.,  but  never  associates  with  the  idea 
of  slavery. 

"  Peter  followed  him  afar  off  unto  the  high-priest's  palace,  and 
he  sat  with  the  servants,  (fefltyperW,  attendants,  &c.,)  and  warmed 
himself  at  the  fire."  Mark  xiv.  54.  "And  the  servants  (Sovhoi, 
douloi,  slaves)  and  officers  (uTtypeVou,  huperetai,  attendants,  inferior 
officers,  &c.)  stood  there,  who  had  made  a  fire  of  coals,  (for  it  was 
cold,)  and  they  warmed  themselves."  John  xviii.  18. 

That  the  word  here  used  never  conjugates  with  the  idea  slavery, 
we  quote  it  as  used  in  Luke  iv.  20,  in  proof:  "  And  he  closed  the 
book,  and  he  gave  it  again  to  the  minister,"  (wtyipevy  huperete, 
attendant,  inferior  officer,  &c.)  Also,  Acts  xxvi.  16 :  "  But  rise 
and  stand  upon  thy  feet :  for  I  have  appeared  unto  thee  for  this 
purpose,  to  make  thee  a  minister  (vrttfpST'yiv,  Jmpereten,  attendant, 
assistant,  minister,  &c.)  and  a  witness  both  of  those  things  which 
thou  hast  seen  and  of  those  things  in  the  which  I  will  appear  unto 
thee." 

Here  the  requisites  of  the  character  required  are  totally  incom 
patible  with  the  character  of  the  doulos,  proving  with  the  greatest 
certainty  that  these  two  words  have  no  analogy  whatever.  For 
we  may  well  here  remark,  that  human  learning  has  never  arrived 
at  a  more  nicely  distinct  and  definite  perfection  in  the  use  of  lan 
guage  than  is  even  now  manifest  in  the  sayings  of  Him  *'  who 
spoke  as  never  man  spake." 

Besides,  in  the  case  of  John  xviii.  18,  servants,  douloi,  and  officers 
VTtqpefai,  huperetai,  being  used  consecutively  and  coupled  together 
by  a  conjunction,  is  a  strong  proof  that  the  idea  appropriated  here 
severally  to  these  terms  could  not  be  expressed  by  either  term  al 
ternately  by  substitution,  and  that  these  terms  were  by  no  analogy 
synonymous. 

The  word  servant  has  also  in  error  been  rendered  from  other 
terms :  see  Hebrews  iii.  5 :  "  And  Moses  verily  was  faithful  in  all 
his  house  as  a  servant,"  (S-epcbtcoiJ,  therapon.)  We  have  not  in  En 
glish  any  single  term  that  fully  expresses  the  idea  conveyed  by 
this.  It  means  an  associate  or  companion  who  is  voluntarily  under 
the  direction  of  one  whom  he  takes  and  acknowledges  to  be  his 
superior.  The  old  Roman  umbra,  when  applied  to  an  attendant, 
conveyed  the  idea  more  exactly  than  any  one  term  of  ours.  Thus, 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  583 

tLe  warrior  was  called  the  tlierapon  of  Mars,  and  of  the  muses  and 
kings  of  the  gods  generally.  Thus,  Menelaus  is  called  the  therapon 
of  his  chief,  &c.  &c.  (See  Iliad,  viii.  113,  xviii.  244,  xix.  143.) 

A  similar  error  is  occasionally  found  in  the  use  of  the  terms  to 
serve,  served,  service,  &c.,  as  if  they  were  legitimately  derived  from 
some  form  of  doulos.  Thus,  Luke  ii.  37  :  "  But  served  God  with 
fasting  and  prayers  night  and  day," — "  served,"  harpsvovoa, 
latreuousa,  from  latreuo.  The  more  appropriate  term  is  "to 
worship,"  &c. 

The  term  was  used  by  the  Greeks,  "to  worship"  the  gods  by 
sacrifices  and  offerings.  (See  Euripidesy  Electra,  131;  Iphagenia 
in  Tauris,  1115.)  So  in  Acts  vii.  7 :  "  And  after  that  shall  they 
come  forth  and  serve  me  in  this  place," — "  serve,"  hatpsvGovGi,  la- 
treusousi.  It  should  have  been,  "and  worship  me  in  this  place." 
JRom.ix.  4:  "  And  the  service  of  God,  and  the  promises,"  /lo/rpef'a, 
latreia,  worship,  &c.  So  also  Heb.  ix.  1  :  "Then  verily  the  first 
covenant  had  also  ordinances  of  divine  service,"  /larps/cu;,  latreias, 
worship.  So  also  Heb.  xiii.  10  :  "  We  have  an  altar  whereof  they 
have  no  right  to  eat  which  serve  the  tabernacle," — "  serve,"  Xarpsr- 
ovreg,  latreuontes,  who  are  worshipping  in  the,  &c.  &c. 

Aidxovog,  diakonos,  is  also  sometimes  erroneously  translated 
servant,  service,  to  serve,  &c.  An  instance  occurs,  John  ii.  5  :  "And 
his  mother  saith  unto  the  servants,"  SiaxovoL$,  diakonois,  from 
diakonos :  as  a  verb,  it  means  to  minister  unto,  to  wait  upon,  to 
manage  affairs,  to  perform  some  function  to  another  ;  and  hence,  in 
English,  we  may  occasionally  require  some  other  term  of  cognate 
meaning.  From  this  term  our  word  "  deacon"  has  been  legitimately 
derived.  The  word  is  of  less  elevated  import  in  Greek  than 
therapon  (see  Aristophanes,  Ornithes,  line  1322,  d>$  (3^axiXO)^ 
<5ta%omg,)  but  never  consorts  in  the  least  degree  with  the  idea 
slavery.  "  Saith  unto"  them  who  ministered,  who  waited  upon  the 
guests,  &c.  So  also  John  ii.  9:  "But  the  servants  which  drew  the 
water  knew," — servants,  Sidxovoi,  diakonoi,  "  they  who  ministered 
unto."  See  also  Rom.  xvi.  1 :  "I  commend  unto  you  Phebe  our 
sister,  which  is  a  servant  of  the  church,"  &c.,  bidxovor,  diakonon, 
one  who  ministers  unto,  &c.  So  also  John  xii.  26  :  "  If  any  man 
serve,"  Siaxovri,  diakone,  wait  upon,  minister  unto  me.  "  And  where 
I  am  there  shall  my  servant  be,"  SicLxovog,  diakonos,  one  who  waits 
upon,  who  ministers  unto  ;  "him  will  my  Father  honour."  It  is  not 
always  in  English  easy  to  select  a  phrase  distinctly  the  best  adapted 


584  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

to  express  the  precise  difference  between  the  words  diakonos  and 
huperetes,  but  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  huperetes  was  of  an 
employment  more  of  public  character  :  hence  those  who  in  the  ships 
held  certain  banks  of  oars  were  called  by  that  name ;  also  those  of 
a  particular  rank  in  the  army,  or  in  civil  government ;  but  the  word 
diakonos  was  used  as  a  term  more  applicable  to  domestic,  personal-, 
or  private  life.  Keeping  this  distinction  in  mind,  the  same  word 
may  often,  in  English,  give  the  sense  of  either;  yet  huperetes 
will  often  appear  in  Greek  where  diakonos  would  be  ill  used.  A 
more  correct  use  of  this  word  than  the  preceding  will  be  found 
in  Matt.  iv.  11 :  "  Then  the  devil  leaveth  him,  and  behold,  angels 
came  and  ministered  unto  him,"  BupcowoW)  diekonoun,  ministered 
unto,  attended  to. 

Matt.  xx.  26  :  "  But  whosoever  will  be  great  among  you,  let  him 
be  your  minister,"  otcbeovogj  diakonos,  minister,  &c.  And  here 
is  shown  the  distinction  between  this  word  and  doulos,  a  slave ;  for 
he  proceeds,  "And  whosoever  will  be  chief  among  you,  let  him  be 
your  servant,"  <5oi)/lo$?  doulos,  slave.  Also,  Luke  viii.  3:  "And 
Joanna  the  wife  of  Chuza,  Herod's  steward,  and  Susanna,  and  many 
others  which  ministered  unto  him  of  their  substance,"  &IYIXOVOW, 
diekonoun,  ministered,  &c.  We  have  deemed  it  proper  to  notice 
these  inaccuracies  in  our  translation,  to  prevent  the  word  servant, 
&c.,  when  used  to  mean  slave,  &c.,  being  confounded  with  its  use 
when  given  in  translation  as  above ;  and  it  may  be  proper  also  to 
notice  that  the  hired  labourer,  a  freeman  hired  into  the  employ 
of  another,  is  never  described  by  any  term  implying  slavery,  or 
even  having  any  analogy  with  it,  as  examples  will  show : 

"  For  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  a  man  that  is  a  householder, 
which  went  out  early  in  the  morning  to  hire  labourers  (fucr^o)- 
aaaOai  JpydTag,  misthosasthai  ergatas,  to  hire  labourers)  into  his 
vineyard."  "  They  say  unto  him,  Because  no  man  hath  hired  us," 
(sfnoO^a'to,  emisthosato,  hath  hired.)  "  So  when  the  evening  was 
come,  the  Lord  of  the  vineyard  saith  unto  his  steward,  call  the 
labourers  and  give  them  their  hire,"  uiG0ov,  misthon,  wages,  &c. 
"And  when  they  had  received  it,  they  murmured  against  the  good 
man  of  the  house."  Matt.  xx.  1,  7,  8, 11.  "  And  when  he  came  to 
himself,  he  said,  How  many  hired  servants  ([iiGOioi,  misthioi,  hired 
persons)  of  my  father's  have  bread,"  &c.  Luke  xv.  17.  "But  he 
that  is  a  hireling,  ((ALGdutog,  misthotos,  a  person  hired,)  and  not 
the  shepherd,  whose  own  the  sheep  are  not,  seeth  the  wolf,  &c.  and 
the  wolf  catcheth  them  and  scattereth  the  sheep.  The  hireling 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVEKY.  585 


misthotos,  a  person  hired)  fleeth  because  he  is  a  hire 
ling  (^K7$0)-r6g?  misthotos,  a  person  hired,)  and  careth  not  for  the 
sheep."  John  x.  12, 13.  "  For  the  labourer  is  worthy  of  his  hire" 
rov  [liGdov,  hire,  wages,  payment,  &c.  Luke  x.  7.  "Behold, 
the  hire  (6  ^t(T06g,  payment  for  being  hired)  of  the  labourers 
(rGJv  Jp/araJZ',  ton  ergaton,  the  labourers,  not  slaves)  who  have 
reaped  down  your  fields."  James  v.  4. 

He  who  is  seeking  to  obtain  a  correct  view  of  the  truth  will  per 
ceive  the  propriety  of  keeping  in  mind  the  distinction  between  the 
different  characters  thus  in  our  version  called  by  the  same  name, 
"servants"  and  not  suffer  his  mind  to  be  governed,  or  even  influ 
enced,  by  any  bias  which  has  been  produced  by  an  incomplete  ex 
amination  of  the  whole  gospel  of  God. 


586  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


LESSON   I. 

THE  Hebrew  letters  y  ain,  2  beth,  and  1  daleth,  compose  the 
word  by  which  the  Hebrews  meant  what  we  mean  by  the  word 
slave.  There  is  some  variation  among  men  of  letters,  even  among 
the  Jews  themselves,  as  to  the  pronunciation  of  this  word,  some 
following  the  Asiatic,  some  the  Portuguese,  and  some  the  Polish 
method. 

Out  of  respect  and  in  deference  to  King  James's  translators  of 
the  Old  Testament,  of  the  learned  and  critical  Dr.  Blany,  and  of 
that  indefatigable  biblical  scholar,  Dr.  Bagster,  we  have  adopted 
their  pronunciation  of  this  word,  and  call  it  ebed. 

This  word,  as  left  untranslated  by  them,  will  be  found  in  Jer. 
xxxviii.  7-12;  also  xxxix.  16,  17,  thus: — "Now,  when  Ebed- 
melech  the  Ethiopian,  one  of  the  eunuchs  which  was  in  the  king's 
house."  "  Ebed-melech  went  forth  out  the  king's  house."  "  When 
the  king  commanded  Ebed-melech  the  Ethiopian."  "So  Ebed- 
melech  took  the  men  with  him."  "And  Ebed-melech  the  Ethi 
opian  said  to  Jeremiah."  "  Go,  speak  to  Ebed-melech  the 
Ethiopian."  The  words  Ebed-melech  are  here  left  untranslated, 
because  we  have  not,  in  English,  words  to  express  the  idea  con 
veyed  by  them,  except  by  paraphrasis,  as,  for  instance,  they 
would  have  had  to  have  said,  his  majesty's  private,  or  principal, 
and  confidential  body-servant :  and  this  is  the  exact  meaning  im 
plied  by  the  words  Ebed-melech,  as  here  used :  the  word  servant, 
meaning  a  slave.  In  Judges  ix.  26,  28,  30,  31,  35,  the  word  Ebed 
is  also  left  untranslated.  Also  in  Ezra  viii.  6:  "Ebed,  the  son 
of  Jonathan."  And  in  some  other  places. 

We  trust  that  our  authority  for  the  pronunciation  of  the  word 
ebed,  will  be  deemed  sufficient :  yet,  we  admit  that,  in  He- 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  587 


brew  pronunciation,  it  will  be  varied  by  suffix,  affix,  and  points,  as  has 
been  found  by  the  learned  rabbis  long  since  to  best  agree  with  their 
rules  of  cantation  and  the  idiomatic  construction  of  the  language. 
This  word  ebed  is  used  as  a  noun,  verb,  adjective,  participle, 
and  adverb  ;  but  we  make  the  proposition,  that,  however  used,  and 
in  whatever  form,  it  is  never  used  disconnected  from  the  idea  of 
slavery.  Philological  history  will  develop  to  us,  at  least,  one 
human  weakness  :—  pride  to  be  thought  learned,  has  more  or  less, 
among  the  European  nations  and  languages,  had  its  effect  in  the 
compilation  of  dictionaries. 

In  some  instances,  men  of  learning  have  undertaken  their  com 
pilation  without  using  their  ability  to  fathom  the  depths  of  lan 
guage,  or  to  discover  the  sources  of  its  streams,  or  describe  the 
qualities  of  their  combinations.  And  the  world  is  full  of  servile 
imitations  of  former  and  old  errors  ;  and  each  one  seems  to  think 
that  the  authority  of  a  book  warrants  their  perpetuation. 

But  there  will  occasionally  arise,  in  the  walks  of  knowledge, 
some  Moses,  some  Confucius,  some  Homer,  some  Euclid,  some 
Socrates,  some  Bacon,  some  Newton,  some  Franklin,  some  Cham- 
pollion,  before  the  fire  of  whose  genius  and  mental  power,  all 
imitations  of  error  wither  away. 

Touching  the  subject  of  the  Asiatic  languages  generally,  and  the 
darkness  that  has  for  ages  overspread  them,  may  we  not  fondly 
hope  that  such  a  luminary  is  now  culminating  in  the  region  of  the 
universities  of  England.  Permit  us,  at  least,  to  have  some  hope 
for  the  Regius  Professor  of  Cambridge. 

But  to  our  subject  :—  We  sometimes  find  the  philologist  yield  his 
sceptre  and  borrow  his  definitions  from  a  bad  translation.  Arid 
we  often  find  the  translator  sacrificing  his  original  upon  the  altar 
of  his  own  imperfections.  Now,  it  is  not  uncommon  that^a  word 
in  one  language  may  be  in  such  peculiar  use.  that,  consistently 
with  the  constitution  of  some  other  language,  it  cannot  be  trans 
lated  therein  by  any  one  single  term  ;  and  even  if  so,  not  always 
by  the  same  word.  Should  all  the  different  terms  and  words  that 
might  thus  be  legitimately  used  in  translation,  be  collected  together, 
and  put  down  as  the  descriptive  meaning  of  some  foreign  or  ancient 
term,  our  lexicons  would,  of  necessity,  contain  some  portions  of 


error.      For   example,  suppose   we    take   the   Arabic  word 
abed,  which  means  absolutely  a  slave  in  that  language:  we  ^  all 
know  that  an  Arabian,  speaking  or  writing  to  one  far  his  superior, 


;^8  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

^ 
would  someway  call  himself  by  this  term.     He  uses  it  to  express 

great  devotedness,  honesty,  and  integrity  of  intentions  to  the  one 
addressed.  If  we  were  composing  an  Arabic  lexicon,  what  would 
the  scholar  have  good  reason  to  say,  if  we  should  put  as  the  defini 
tion  .of  this  word, — honesty,  integrity  of  intention,  &c.  ?  This 
Arabic  word  is  the  same  as  in  Hebrew,  and  the  word  is  used  in 
both  languages  with  great  similarity :  also  in  Chaldee,  Syriac,  and 
other  Shemitic  dialects. 

While  we  premise  that  the  Koran  is  taken  as  the  standard  of 
Arabic  literature,  we  present  this  word,  as  used  in  that  language, 
as  a  sample  of  its  use  in  the  other  Shemitic  dialects. 

This  word,  as  above,  in  Arabic,  is  composed  of  the  letters  gain, 
or  ain,  under  point  jesm,  which  is  equivalent  to  the  Hebrew 
quiescent  sheoa,  but  really  having  the  shortest  possible  trace  of  the 
sound  of  our  short  e,  and  terminated  by  the  letter  dhal,  or  dal, 
under  the  diacritical  sign  of  nunnation. 

Mr.  Sale,  who  had  great  experience  in  Arabic  literature,  has 
left  this  word  frequently  untranslated  in  his  notes,  quoting  BEI- 
DAWI  and  lolalo'ddin,  to  his  version  of  the  Koran,  and  in  Roman 
letters  expressed  it  thus,  abda,  and,  without  annunation  thus,  abd. 
We  confine  ourselves  to  this  particular  form  of  the  word.  If,  by 
long  experience  we  supply  the  shortest  possible  trace  of  our  vowel 
e  between  the  b  and  d,  and  in  annunation  cause  the  terminating 
vowel  to  coalesce  in  some  trace  of  our  consonant  n,  we  should  per 
haps  arrive  at  as  correct  a  pronunciation  as  could  be  attained  by 
mere  rules  and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  ebed  of  Jerusalem  became 
abed  at  Mecca. 

We  copy  from  Sale's  translation,  without  burthening  our  page 
with  a  repetition  of  the  original ;  our  object  is  to  show  the  precise 
idea  for  the  expression  of  which  the  Arabians  appropriated  this 
word. 

"  God  causeth  some  of  you  to  excel  in  worldly  possessions  :  yet, 
they  who  are  caused  to  excel  do  not  give  their  wealth  unto  the 
slaves  whom  their  right  hands  possess,  that  they  may  become 
equal  sharers  therein."  Koran,  chap.  16. 

Al  Beidawi,  an  Arabian  commentator  on  the  Koran,  upon  this 
passage  says — 

"  A  reproof  to  the  idolatrous  Meccans,  who  could  admit  created 
beings  to  a  share  of  the  divine  honour,  though  they  suffered  not 
their  slaves  to  share  with  themselves  in  what  God  had  bestowed 
on  them." 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  589 

The  expression  of  a  thing  done,  held,  or  "possessed  by  the  right 
hand,"  in  Arabic,  is  a  full  concession  that  the  doing,  holding,  or 
possessing,  is  just,  rightful,  and  righteous. 

"  God  propoundeth,  as  a  parable,  a  possessed  slave,  who  hath 
power  over  nothing,  and  him  on  whom  we  have  bestowed  a  good 
provision  from  us,  and  who  giveth  alms  thereout,  both  secretly  and 
openly ;  shall  these  two  be  esteemed  equal  ?  God  forbid."  Koran, 
chap.  16. 

Of  this,  the  above  commentator  says,  "The  idols,  we  have 
likened  to  a  slave,  who  is  so  far  from  having  any  thing  of  his  own, 
that  he  is  himself  in  the  possession  of  another."  Idem. 

"  And  this  is  the  favour  which  thou  hast  bestowed  on  me,  that 
thou  hast  enslaved  the  children  of  Israel."  Koran,  chap.  26. 

"  0  prophet,  we  have  allowed  thee  thy  wives,  unto  whom  thou 
hast  given  their  dower,  and  also  the  slaves  which  thy  right  hand 
possesseth,  of  the  booty  which  God  hath  granted  to  thee."  Koran. 
chap.  33. 

Yet,  so  it  is,  we  find  in  our  Hebrew  lexicons,  among  the  signi 
fications  of  this  word  "TD^  ebed,  not  only  its  true  signification.— 
slave,  slavery,  &c., — but  also,  to  labour,  cultivate,  labour  generally, 
worship,  to  make,  to  do,  or  deal  with  any  one,  to  take  place  or  hap 
pen,  ivork,  business,  tillage,  cultivation  of  land,  agriculture,  im 
plements,  utensils,  appurtenances,  a  worship^  of  Gf-od  or  of  idols, 
wearied,  to  be  ivearied  with  labour,  complied  with,  assented  to, 
performed,  religious  service,  a  submissive  epithet,  a  minister,  to 
minister  unto,  any  one  employed  in  the  service  of  a  king,  any  one 
who  worships,  adores  G-od,  one  who  is  commissioned  by  him  for 
any  purpose,  benefit,  employment  of  any  kind. 

But  we  will  desist  from  increasing  this  catalogue  of  definitions, 
for  fear  of  being  charged  with  slander  on  the  Hebrew  lexicons. 
Must  not  that  be  a  very  strange  language  in  which  one  little  word 
of  only  three  letters  has  so  many  varied  and  adverse  meanings : 
Yet,  in  all  sobriety,  we  might  double  the  number.  If  each  and 
every  Hebrew  word  were  like  this,  thus  loaded  with  lexicographical 
learning,  we  beg  to  know  who  would  undertake  and  what  would 
be  the  use  of  its  study ;  for  surely,  from  the  same  page,  there 
might  be  a  very  great  number  of  adverse  and  contradictory  trans 
lations,  all  equally  correct.  But,  if  such  catalogue  is  not  legiti 
mate,  to  what  cause  are  we  to  look  for  its  existence  ?  to  some 
abiding  influence,  secret  but  persevering,  in  the  minds  of  the  lexi 
cographers  for  the  last  thousand  years  ?  Or  shall  we  rather  con- 


590  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

fine  our  views  to  the  casualties  of  hurried  translations  and  bad 
readings,  to  the  facility  of  the  copyist  in  book-making,  instead  of 
the  laborious  study  of  the  investigator  ? 

This  circumstance,  from  whatever  cause  it  may  have  sprung, 
will  impose  on  us  some  labour  to  show  the  correctness  of  our  pro 
position,  to  wit,  the  word  7$y  ebed,  however  used,  and  in  what 
ever  form,  is  never  used  in  Hebrew  disconnected  from  the  idea  of 
slavery. 

We  first  propose  to  show  that  the  Hebrew  is  abundantly  sup 
plied  with  words  to  express  all  these  other  meanings,  disconnected 
with  the  idea  of  slavery. 

Aware  that  such  examination  may  be  extremely  uninteresting 
to  the  most  of  us,  yet,  deeming  it  of  great  importance  to  our  sub 
ject,  we  humbly  ask  indulgence,  while  we  examine  a  few  of  the 
most  leading  terms  as  examples,  whose  significations  have  been 
appropriated  to  the  word  15J7  ebed. 


LESSON  II. 

BUT,  before  we  enter  into  such  examination,  it  may  be  proper 
to  remark  that  the  Hebrew,  in  common  with  all  the  Shemitic  lan 
guages,  makes  abundant  use  of  what  we  call  rhetorical  figures. 
The  word  J 3  ben  means  a  son  ;  but  by  prosopopoeia  it  is  made  to 
mean  an  arrow.  Thus,  Lam.  iii.  13,  "  He  hath  caused  the  arrows 
of  his  quiver,"  inS^N  JjQ  beney,  asJipatho— literally,  the  sons  of 
hw  quiver,  from  the  notion  that  the  arrow  is  the  produce,  issue, 
adjunct,  &c.  of  the  quiver.  We  might  quote  a  great  number  of 
instances  where  the  word  J?  ben,  by  the  same  figure,  is  used  to 
express  some  other  idea  than  son,  yet  never  unassociated  with  the 
primitive  idea;  but,  what  would  be  the  value  of  the  lexicographi 
cal  assertion  that  this  word  in  Hebrew  meant  an  arrow  ?  The  follow 
ing  fifteen  verses  are  wholly  of  the  same  character  :  "  He  hath 
filled  me  with  bitterness,  he  hath  made  me  drunk  with  wormwood." 

The  Arabians  have  a  common  way  of  expressing  "  one  of  great 
affliction,"  by  saying  that  he  is  a  "wormwood  beater."  Yet  the 
Arabic  word  that  means  affliction,  by  no  means  is  synonymous  of 
'wormwood. 

The  figure  of  Lamentations  is  also  used  in  Ps.  cxxvii.  4,  5:  "As 


STUDIES   ON  SLAVERY.  591 


awards  are  in  the  hand  of  a  mighty  man,  so  are  children  of 
the  youth.  Happy  is  the  man  that  hath  his  quiver  full  of  them." 
Yet,  the  word  lH|)^N"n?<  is  in  no  sense  a  synonyme  of  whatever 
word  for  which  it  is  here  figuratively  used.  A  singular  instance 
of  this  figure  is  found  in  Lam.  ii.  13:  "Let  not  the  apple  of  thine 
eye  cease;"  TU^TQ  lath  eynek,  the  daughter  of  the  eye.  The 
translators  have  understood  this  to  mean  the  "pupil,"  otherwise 
called  the  apple  of  the  eye ;  but,  the  word  bath,  daughter,  shows 
that  the  thing  meant  is  a  produce  of  the  eye;  hence,  it  cannot 
mean  the  apple  or  pupil  of  the  eye.  but  tears.  But  how  stupid 
the  page  that  shall  put  down  as  a  signification  of  the  word  fQ  bath, 
an  apple,  or  the  apple  of  the  eye,  or  the  pupil,  or  yet,  what  it 
here  means,  a  tear  ? 

These  two  words  ben,  a  son,  and  bath,  a  daughter,  sometimes 
beth,  are  associated  in  so  many  different  forms  of  figure  and  in 
connection  or  compound  with  other  Hebrew  words,  to  express  some 
complex  idea,  that,  if  each  different  idea  thus  conveyed  was  to  be 
considered  a  legitimate  signification  of  these  words,  their  descrip 
tion  would  be  quite  lengthy,  and  contradictory  ;  for  instance,  Gen. 

xxiv.  16,  frhnS  is  used  to  mean  a  virgin.  But,  1  Sam.  i.  16, 
Sjf v3"fi!i  is  used  to  mean  quite  a  different  character,  as  if  of  dif 
ferent  origin.  InJfccZ.xii.4,T&n  Hp?  is  generally  understood  to 

mean  the  voice  of  an  old  man.  But  in  Dan.  xi.  17,  DHtf  JH  HD 
is  understood  to  mean  a  princess.  We  might  multiply  examples 
without  number  ;  yet,  in  all  instances,  the  leading  idea,  a  daughter, 
is  ever  present :  other  primitive  words,  whose  signification  was  an 
idea  of  great  and  leading  interest,  will  be  found  in  similar  use. 
And  it  may  be  remarked,  that,  at  one  age  of  the  world,  when  a 
large  proportion  of  the  children  of  men  were  slaves,  that  the  word 
signifying  that  condition  would  be  naturally  and  exceedingly  often 
used  in  a  figurative  manner.  Even  among  us,  our  word  servant, 
which,  from  use,  has  become  merely  a  milder  term  to  express  the 
same  idea,  is  in  the  mouth  of  every  devout  man,  while  slave  is  in 
constant  use  among  the  moral  and  political  agitators  of  the  day. 

One  among  the  causes  of  our  finding  in  the  lexicons  so  many 
and  adverse  significations  of  the  word  ebed,  is  the  fact,  that  the 
Hebrew  often  expressed  an  adjective  quality,  by  placing  the  sub 
stantive  expressing  the  quality  as  if  in  apposition  with  the  sub 
stantive  qualified,  thus,  D^flQ  ^1?^  theV>  slaves  (not)  sPies; 


592  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 


^jS?   they  slaves,  brethren,    Gen.  xlii.  11-13,  ?H 
thy  slave  our  father,  Gren.  xliii.  28. 

In  an  analogous  sense  the  word  £"N  is  used  in  2  Kings  i.  9,  10, 
11,  12,  13.  Also  iv.  25  and  27,  preceding  DTiSiKn  a  man  of  G-ocl 
meaning  one  so  wholly  devoted  to  God  as  to  partake  of  the  divine 
nature.  But  such  use  in  no  manner  changes  the  meaning  of  the 
word  &*>N  or  DTPJJ.  This  mode  of  expressing  quality,  by 
placing  one  of  the  substantives  in  the  genitive,  is  quite  common 
even  in  the  modern  languages.  Grammarians  will  also  inform  us 
that  substantives  are  often  used  adverbially,  designating  the  time, 
place,  and  quality,  of  the  action  of  the  verb. 

But  again,  the  Hebrew  adjectives  are  in  disproportional  scarcity 
to  the  substantives,  which  the  language  remedies  by  a  kind  of  cir 
cumlocution  ;  this,  DH!T]  K"N  a  man  (of)  word's,  i.  e.  an 
eloquent  man,  as  in  Ex.  iv.  10;  the  son  of  strength  TH")?  valiant 
or  worthy  man,  1  Kings  i.  52 ;  D"}p"^5  the  sons  of  the  East, 
i.  e.  the  orientals,  Gren.  xxix.  1 ;  fOp  f 3  the  son  of  death,  i.  e. 

doomed  to  death,  1  Sam.  xx.  31 ;  72"!^5lfi3  the  daughter  of 
baseness,  i.  e.  a  base  woman,  1  Sam.  i.  16. 

This  use  of  language  is  common  to  our  word,  ebed,  slave: 
^Cv-^  ^3-£  slaves  of  God,  i.  e.  a  man  devoted  to  God,  as  a  slave 
to  a  master,  i.  e.  a  man  who  most  devotedly  worships  God,  Dan.  iii. 
26 ;  NPPN  "151?.  slave  of  Grod,  i.  e.  devoted  worshipper  of  God, 
&c.,  Dan.  vi.  21,  the  20th  of  the  English  text ;  and  to  express 
this  adjective  quality,  is  thus  compounded  in  Ezra  v.  11,  'nlljj* 
slaves  of  God,  i.  e.,  devoted  to  God  as  slaves  are  to  their  masters, 
&c.,  to  express  the  adjective  qualities  of  devotion  and  obedience. 
This  word  is  used  and  compounded  with  many  other  words  in  a 
great  variety  of  instances. 

But,  doubtless,  another  cause  which  has  led  the  lexicographers 
into  the  alleged  error,  is  the  peculiar  disposition  of  the  Hebrew, 
(common  to  all  the  Shemitic  tongues)  to  express  the  idea  intended, 
by  expressing  another  to  which  it  has  a  real  or  supposed  analogy, 
either  in  primitive  relation  or  in  ultimate  result.  For  example, 
let  us  take  the  word  ben,  a  son,  thus :  Isa.  v.  1,  keren,  here  used 
to  mean  the  top  of  a  mountain,  because  they  fancied  an  analogv 
between  the  top  of  a  mountain  and  a  horn.  Ben,  a  son,  shamen. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  593 

fat,  son  of  fatness,  is  here  used  to  mean  a  fruitful  mountain.  But, 
do  these  words  acquire  new  significations  from  this  figurative  use 
of  them  ?  The  sons  of  the  quiver,  i.  e.  arrows.  Lem.  iii.  13.  Shall 
we  say  that  ben,  means  an  arrow  ?  Ben  kasheth,  the  son  of  the 
bow,  (cannot  make  him  flee,)  i.  e.  the  arrow,  Job  xli.  20,  (the  28th 
of  the  English  text.)  Shall  we  indeed  then  say  that  ben  means 
an  arrow  ?  Ben  shahor,  the  son  of  blackness,  here  used  to  express 
night, — son  of  the  night, — used  to  convey  our  idea,  the  morning 
star.  Shall  we  say  that  ben  means  a  star  ?  or,  that  blackness 
means  the  morning  ?  Isa.  xiv.,  12  HIIV  J5  ben  yonah,  the  son  of 
a  dove,  i.  e.  a  young  dove,  a  squab  ?  Lev.  xii.  6.  Shall  we  say 
that  f  5  ben  means  a  squab  ?  Lev.  xii.  8,  beni  j/onah,  sons  of  a 
dove,  i.  e.  two  young  doves  or  squabs.  Shall  we  then,  surely  s*ay 
that  beni  means  two  squabs  ?  But,  in  Lev.  xiv.  22,  we  have  the 
same  words  used  in  the  same  sense :  must  we  say  that  this  word 

means  squabs  ?  3"}i?  ^?  bene  oreb,  the  sons  of  the  raven,  i.  e. 
young  ravens,  Ps.  cxlvii.  9 :  does  beni  then  mean  young  ravens 
also?  ^p3  J5>  1>en  baker,  the  son  of  an  ox,  i.  e.  a  calf,  Ex. 
xxix.  1.  What,  does  ben  mean  a  calf?  Num.  xxix.  2-8,  son 
of  an  ox,  also ;  ben  the  son  of  an  ox — meaning  a  calf,  does  ben 
most  surely  mean  a  calf?  Job  xxxix.  16,  speaking  of  ostrich- 
eggs,  calls  them,  iT^S,  tne  plural:  what !  does  this  word  also  mean 
ostrich-eggs  ?  But,  Eccl.  ii.  7,  canithi,  I  purchased,  ebadim, 
male  slaves,  shepaphath,  and  female  slaves,  and  sons,  bayith,  of  my 
house,  liaya,  there  were,  li,  to  me : — here  »JQ  bene  is  used  to  ex 
press  the  idea  "  home-born  slaves."  But,  shall  we  say  that  this 
word  means  such  young  slaves  ?  Would  such  a  catalogue  of  sig 
nifications  placed  to  the  word  ben,  a  son,  be  legitimate  or  truthful  ? 

But,  in  Jer.  ii.  14,  we  again  find  this  word  bayith,  preceded  by 
yelid,  born  of  the  house,  meaning  a  house-born  slave.  The  same 
words  are  used  to  mean  the  same  thing  in  Cf-en.  xiv.  14,  meaning 
house-born  slaves  ;  and  again,  Gen.  xvii.  12,  meaning  a  house-born 
slave;  also,  idem.  13,  meaning  a  slave  born  in  thy  house — thy 
house-born  slave. 

God  did  not  speak  to  Abraham  in  an  unintelligible  language : 
every  one  knew  what  the  idea  was,  even  down  to  this  day.  Yet, 
are  either  of  these  words  a  synonyme  of  ebed,  a  slave  ? 

But  we  will  close  this  portion  of  our  remarks  by  stating  that 
thS  lexicographers  might,  in  the  manner  here  pointed  out,  (which 

38 


594  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 

they  have  pursued  to  great  extent,)  have  still  increased  their  cata 
logue  of  significations  to  the  word  ebed. 

Let  us  show  an*  instance.  It  is  well  known  that  the  ancient 
eastern  nations  punished  great  offenders  by  cutting  them  in 
pieces.  The  term  expressing  and  threatening  this  punishment 
was  used  somewhat  technically,  as  is  now  the  term  to  guillotine, 
meaning  to  cut  off  a  mans  head.  The  term  used  by  the  ancients 
to  express  this  cutting  in  pieces,  as  introduced  in  Hebrew,  was, 
pP"rjn  "OJ^  abad  haddamin,  which  literally  was  "  to  enslave  in 
pieces."  The  term  is  expressed  thus  in  Dan.  ii.  5  :  f 'P*1H 
pHDi^nfl  in  pieces  ye,  shall  be  enslaved,  i.e.  "Ye  shall  be  cut 
in  pieces." 

The  lexicographers  might  have  continued  their  catalogue  with 
the  same  truthfulness  with  which  they  have  extended  it  to  such 
length,  and  have  said  that  ""OJ7  ebed  also  meant  to  hew,  to  cut, 
&c.,  and  have  cited  this  instance  in  proof. 

But  in  Dan.  iii.  29,  the  term  is  used  again  thus  *15WT  pplH 
in  pieces  shall  be  enslaved,  i.  e.  "shall  be  cut  in  pieces."  Surely, 
they  should  have  added,  that  ebed  means  to  cut.  It  is  true  that 
the  literal  meaning  of  this  term  cannot  always  be  given  in  English 
so  as  to  be  in  pleasant  accordance  with  our  use  of  language. 

But  the  same  is  true  as  to  many  other  phrases  and  terms,  and 
perhaps  applicable  to  every  other  language.  This  form  and  use 
of  this  word  as  here  used  by  Daniel,  is  rather  a  Persian  adultera 
tion  than  pure  Hebrew,  of  which  several  instances  may  be  found 
in  some  of  the  later  books.  The  Babylonian  and  Persian  kings 
considered  even  all  their  subjects  as  slaves  to  them,  and  this  word 
was  evidently  used  with  greater  latitude  among  them  than  it  ap 
pears  to  have  been  among  the  Hebrews  at  the  time  of  Moses. 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  595 


LESSON   III.      • 

THE  lexicons  seem  tenacious  that  a  very  usual  signification  of 
the  word  "O^  ebed  is  labour,  both  as  a  noun  and  verb  ;  and  inas 
much  as  to  many  there  may  seem  some  relation  between  the  ideas 
slavery  and  labour,  we  wish  to  be  particular  in  examining  the  He 
brew  use  of  the  terms  expressive  of  these  ideas.     It  appears  to  us 
that  the  Hebrew  word  JW  yaga,  and  its  derivations,  carries  with 
it  simply  our  idea  of  labour,  more  closely  than  any  other  word. 
Yet  this  word  is  never  disconnected  with  the  idea  fatigue  and 
weariness,  and  perhaps  something  of  the  same  character  will  be 
perceived  to  be  attached  to  our  word  labour.     In  Gen.  xxxi.  42, 
it  is  used  and  translated,  "  the  y_W  labour  of  my  hands."    Deut. 
xxv.  18,  "and  when  thou  wast  faint  and  JW1]  weary."    Josh.  vii. 
3:   "And  make  not  all  the  people  to  yj£f]  labour  thither."     xxiv. 
13 :   "And  I  gave  you  a  land  for  which  you  did  not  jHJW  labour." 
2  Sam.  'xvii.  2:    "And  I  will  come  upon   him  while  he  is  %X 
weary."     Neh.  v.  13  :   "So  shall  God  shake  out  every  man  from 
his  house  and  from  his  1JWD1  labour."     Job  iii.  17  :   "And  the 
yy  weary  be  at  rest."     ix.  29  :  "If  I  be  wicked,  why  then  yy$ 
labour  I  in  vain."     x.  13 :  *  *  "despised  the    #»£   work  of  thy 
hands  *  *."     xxviii.  18  :  "  That  which  he  Jtt>  laboured  for  shall 
he  restore."     xxxix.  11 :  *  *  "  Wilt  thou  leave  thy  ^r   labour 
to  him."     16:  *  *  *  "her  PUT-J*  labour  is  in  vain  without  fear?" 
Ps.  Ixix.  4:   "They  that  hate  me  without  a  cause ;"  the  idea  is, 
they  that  labour  to  injure,  &c.     "And  their  D#VH  labour  unto 
the  locust."     cix.  11 :    "let  the  stranger  spoil  his  1j;U»   labour." 
cxxviii.  2  :   "For  thou  shalt  eat  the  yj>¥  labour  of  thy  hands." 
Prov.  xxiii.  4  :   "  JWJ1  labour  not  to  be  rich."  Eccl.  xii.  12  :  "Much 
study  is  r\y_y  weariness   to   the   flesh."      Isa.  xliii.  22,  23,  24  : 
"But  thou  hast  been  n]W  weary  of  rne— nor  ^rU^iH  wearied 
thee  with  incense."     "Thou  hast  'jnj^iri  wearied  me  with  thine 
iniquities."     xlv.  14:  "The    JJ'3»  labour  of  Egypt."      xlvii.  15: 


596  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


"  with  whom  thou  hast  J1JW  laboured:'  Iv.  2  :  "And  your  D^jn 
labour  for  that  which  satisfieth  not."  Ixv.  23:  "  They  shall  not 
W}\  labour  in  vain."  Jer.  iii.  24:  "For  shame  hath  devoured 
the  %W  labour."  xx.  5  :  "And  all  the  Pljp?  labours  thereof." 
xlv.  3:  "I  'F\yW  fainted  in  my  sighing."  The  idea  is,  my 
sighing  was  a  labour  of  great  weariness,  &c.  Ezek.  xxiii.  29 : 
"And  shall  take  away  all  thy  Tj#»4»  labour:'  Hag.  i.  11 :  "And 
upon  all  the  %W  labour  of  thy  hands."  Mai  ii.  17  :  "Ye  have 
DfUfJin  wearie^  tne  Lord  with  your  words,  yet  ye  say,  Wherein 
have  we  I^JMin  wearied  him?"  Heel.  i.  8  :  "All  things  are  full 
of  D']h>  labour."  x.  15:  "The  (SjD#  amal)  labour  of  the 
foolish  (lUJWfl)  wearieth  every  one  of  them."  The  word  labour 
in  this  sentence  is  translated  from  amal,  another  Hebrew  word, 
which  signifies  labour,  but  in  its  signification  is  implied  the  asso 
ciation  of  the  idea  grief,  sorrow,  &c.  The  adjective  quality  of 
this  word  is  mental — in  yaga,  it  is  physical.  This  word  amal 

seems  to  be   derived  from  the  Arabic  ^JUi  amelan,  and  from 

Y*  <  * 

thence  the  Syriac  |i  \%,  having  nearly  the  same  signification. 
In  Arabic  the  signification  is  put  down  by  Castell,  operator,  mer- 
cenarius  ;  and  in  Syriac,  labore  defessus.  It  is  used  in  Hebrew  as 
follows:  G-en.  xli.  51:  "And  Joseph  called  the  name  of  his  first 
born  Manessa;  for  God,  said  he,  hath  made  me  forget  all  my 
*/&y  toil,"  (labour,  sorrow.)  The  word  manessa  means  to 
forget,  to  cause  to  forget,  &c.  Num.  xxiii.  21 :  "  He  hath  not 
beheld  /ft%  iniquity  in  Jacob,"  i.  e.  labour  designed  to  give 
trouble,  perplexity,  or  sorrow.  Deut.  xxvi.  7  :  "  The  Lord  heard 

our  voice  and  looked  upon  our  affliction,  and  our  ^7/t^  labour 
and  our  oppression."  Judg.  v.  26  :  "And  her  right  hand  to  the 
workman's  (Dv^I^.  labourers)  hammer."  Job  iii.  10 :  "Nor  hid 

.  <v 

7DJ7  sorrow  from  mine  eyes."  20 :  "  Wherefore  is  light  given  unto 
him  that  is  in  /pi£/  misery"  iv.  8  :  "They  that  plough  iniquity 
and  sow  /DJ£  wickedness  shall  reap  the  same."  v.  7:  "Yet  man 


STUDIES  ON  SLAVERY.  597 

is  born  to  SftJ^  trouble."  vii.  3:  "  So  I  am  made  to  possess 
months  of  vanity,  and  bpj/  wearisome  nights  are  appointed  to 
me."  xv.  35:  "They  conceive  7D^  mischief  and  bring  forth 
vanity."  xvi.  2  :  ^pj?  "Miserable  comforters  are  ye  all."  xx.  22  : 
"In  the  fulness  of  his  sufficiency  he  shall  be  in  7pl£  straits." 
But  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  Hebrew  copy  of  Job  is 
itself  a  translation.  Ps.  vii,  15  :  "  He  made  a  pit  and  digged  it, 
and  has  fallen  into  the  Spj)  ditch  (sorrow  bringing  labour)  which 
he  made."  16  :  "  His  iSp#  mischiefs  shall  return  upon  his  own 
head."  x.  7:  "Under  his  tongue  is  7p]£  mischief  and  vanity." 
14  :  "Thou  beholdest  7p^  mischief  and  spite."  xxv.  18  :  "  Look 
upon  mine  affliction  and  my  vQJJJ  Pain>  and  forgive  my  sin." 

"Yet  is  their  strength  7£#  labour  and  sorrow."    cv.  44:  "And 
•  4 

they  inherit  the  ^pjn  labour  of  the  people."    cxxvii.  1 :  "  Except 

the  Lord  build  the  house,  ,they  labour  in  vain."  Prov.  xvi.  26: 

"He  that  ^t?y  laboureth  hfi%   ^1??^  ^boureth  for  himself." 

Isa.  liii.  11:   "He  shall  see  of  the  7D1?P  travail  of  his  soul," 

(labour  producing  sorrow,  &c.)  "  And  that  write  ^ft%  grievousness 

which  they  have  prescribed,"   (a  labour  producing   sorrow,  &c.) 

Jonah  iv.  10  :  "  Thou  hast  had  pity  on  the  gourd  for  which  thou  hast 

not  nSpi?  laboured."   Eccl.  i.  3  :  "  What  profit  hath  a  man  of  all 

his  lSp#  labour  which  he  taketh  under  the  sun?"     ii.  10  :  "For 

my  heart  rejoiced  in  all  my  'Sp^  labour"     11:  "And  then  I 

looked  on  all  the  work  that  my  hands  had  wrought,  and  on  all 

the  Spj£.1   labour  that  I  had  'n?p]/£>  laboured"     18:   "Yea, 

I  hated  all  my  >Sp#  labour  which  I  had  ^pj?   taken  (laboured) 

under  the  sun."     19  :  "  Yet  shall  he  have  rule  over  all  my  »7Oj^ 

labour  wherein  I  have  »fiS9J£#  laboured."     20:  "Therefore  I 

went  about  to  cause  my  heart  to  despair  of  all  the   vDJjrj  labour 


598  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

which  I  *J17D^$  took  (laboured)  under  the  sun."  21:  "For 
there  is  a  man  whose  i/faytt?  labour  is  in  wisdom,  and  in  know 
ledge,  and  in  equity — yet  to  a  man  that  hath  not  70)7  laboured 
herein  shall  he  leave  it  for  his. portion."  22:  "For  what  hath 
man  of  all  his  i^£#  labour  and  of  the  vexation  of  his  heart, 
wherein  he  hath  /ft]}  laboured  under  the  sun?"  iv.  4:  "Again  I 
considered  all  7^  travail"  (labour  and  sorrow.)  8  :  "Yet  there 
is  no  end  to  all  his  i7E#  labour,  neither  saith  he,  For  whom  do  I 
S'pJL?  labour."  iii.  9:  "  What  profit  hath  he  that  worketh  in  that 
wherein  he  7py  laboureth?"  v.  18:  "And  to  enjoy  the  good 
of  all  his  iSjplgJ  labour"  vi.  7:  "All  the  Sp#  labour  of  a 
man  is  for  his  mouth."  ix.  9  :  "For  that  is  thy  portion  in  this 
life  and  in  thy  ^DJ^  labour"  x.15  :  "The  Sp#.  labour  (amtil) 
of  the  foolish  ^J^Tl  wearieth  every  one  of  them." 

lOfcwO  melahkah  is  also  quite  analogous  in  its  signification  to 
our  word  labour,  insomuch  that  our  word  labour  may  be  often  used 
in  translation  without  impairing  the  sense.  G-en.  ii.  2  :  "On  the 
seventh  day  God  ended  his  work,"  ifljtf^p  labour,  xxxix.  11 : 
"Joseph  went  into  the  house  to  do  his  business,"  (labour.)  Exod. 
xx.  9:  "And  do  all  thy  work"  ijfOtfSp.  10:  "In  it  thou 
shalt  not  do  any  work"  (labour,  rON7?.)  xxxi.  3:  "All  man- 
ner  of  workmanship"  HpNTO.  14:  "For  whosoever  doeth  any 
work"  JlixSp.  15  :  "Six  days  may  work  fovblf  be  done." 
Lev.  xiii.  48:  "Of  any  thing  made  HpxSp  of  skin,"  (done, 
laboured,  manufactured.)  Ezra  iii.  8  :  "To  set  forward  the  work 
of  the  house."  9:  "To  set  forward  the  workman,"  ftbfcOBn 

T        T    :     -  * 

Esther  iii.  9:  "And  those  that  have  charge  of  the  king's  busi 
ness"  rDN^n.  ix.  3:  "And  officers  hptf^pD  of  the  king.  ' 


STUDIES   ON  SLAVEEY.  599 

Without  multiplying  examples,  it  may  suffice  to  say,  that  this  word, 
as  expressive  of  labour,  is  ever  associated  with  the  idea  of  particu 
larity,  or  class  of  labour,  business,  employment  or  job,  without 
reference  to  any  other  adjective  quality ;  and  hence  it  came  to 
mean  a  message,  or  one  charged  with  a  message,  and  is  therefore 
sometimes  used  to  mean  an  angel,  because  they  were  supposed  to 
be  messengers,  charged  to  do  a  particular  labour ;  hence,  also,  ap 
plied  to  a  prophet ;  and  hence,  also,  the  prophet  Malachi's  name. 
tl&y  Asa  properly  means  work  or  labour,  as  the  result  of 
making,  procreating,  producing,   doing,   acting,   or   performing, 
without  any  regard  to  the  condition  of  the  agent  or  actor.     Cren. 
i.  7  :  "  God  made  '&%*_}  the  firmament."     16  :  "  God  made  &y*_\ 
two  great  lights."     ii.  2:   "  God  ended  his  work  IJIJK??  which 
he  had  made,"  tl'&y.     This  word  is  also  used  to  express  the  re 
sult  of  labour  in  acquiring  slaves  and  other  property  generally,  as 
in  Cren.  xii.  5:  "All  their  substance  that  they  had  gathered,  and 
the  souls  they  had  gotten  in  Haran,"  i.  e.  all  the  property  and 
slaves  that  they  had  laboured  for,  &c.  W%.  JExod.  xxxi.  4 :  "To 
work  in  gold  and  silver."   •  5 :  It  is  used  with  malabkah,  thus : 
"to  work  nit^in  in  all  manner  of  workmanship,"  (rON79  ma~ 
lakah.)     These  two  words   occur  together  again  in  Neh.  iv.  15, 
the  iv.  21  of  the  English  text :   "  So  we  laboured  D'gty  in  the 
work,"  PONS??.     EzeTc.  xxix.  20  :  "I  have  given  him  the  land 
of  Egypt  for  his  labour,"  Itf^.   Exod.  xxx.  25  :  "And  thou  shalt 
make  it  (fWjLH  labour  it)  an  oil  of  holy  ointment,  an  ointment 
composed  after  the  art  of  the  apothecary."     Art  is  here  translated 
from  Hfe^D  maase,  which  is  another  word  of  very  similar  import, 
and  is  derived  from  Jl^^,  and  expresses  the  idea  of  labour,  as 
of  a  thing  done,  or  wrought,  a  work,  deed,  action,  concern,  business, 
i.  e.  a  labour  emanating  from  a  habit,  or  an  occupation  of  busi 
ness.     Cren.  xliv.  15:  "What  deed  HB^On  is  this  that  ye  have 
done?"    xlvii.  3:  "What  is  your  occupation?"  D 


600  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


xxiii.  16:  "And  the  feast  of  the  harvest,  the  firstfruits  of  thy 
labours  ^'fc^E,  which  thou  hast  sown  in  the  field,  and  the  first  of 
the  ingathering,  which  is  the  end  of  the  year,  when  thou  hast  ga 
thered  in  thy  labours"  Tj'B^p.  Hag.  ii.  IT  :  "And  I  smote  you 
with  blasting  and  with  hail  in  all  the  labours  »"[£>#£  of  your 
hands."  Hab.  iii.  17:  "Although  the  fig-tree  shall  not  blossom, 
neither  shall  fruit  be  in  the  vine,  the  labour  HC^E  of  the  olive 
shall  fail." 

?5P  sebel  is  sometimes  translated  labour,  but  it  more  often 
means  something  consequent  to  labour,  as  the  burthen  of  labour 
is  consequent  to  the  labour  :  it  is  sometimes  used  to  mean  the  pro 
duce  of  labour,  and  hence  the  Syrian  Ephraimitish  word  H7^P 
siboleth,  which  is  said  to  mean  an  ear  of  corn,  because  an  ear  of 
corn  was  the  produce  of  labour.  Hence,  it  is  sometimes  used  to 
mean  prolific  and  fruitful,  because  the  produce  of  labour  is  prolific 
and  fruitful;  and  because  to  sustain  a  burthen,  as  of  labour,  car 
ries  with  it  the  idea  of  physical  ability  and  strength,  it  is  used  in 
the  sense  of  bearing  up,  to  elevate,  to  deliver  from,  &c.  A  few 
instances  of  its  use  will  suffice.  Exod.  i.  11 :  "  To  afflict  them 
with  their  burthens"  DnS^D?.  Ps.  Ixxxi.  70:  "I  delivered 
^DDp  thee."  cxliv.  14:  "That  our  oxen  may  be  strong  to 
'  labour"  D^PE.  The  Hebrews  had  thus  several  ways  by  which 
they  could  express  the  idea  labour  accompanied  with  different 
adjective  qualities.  So  the  word  l^J?  et>ea>  ma7  express  the  idea 
labour  ;  but  when  so,  it  is  always  slave-labour -,  the  labour  peculiar 
to,  or  performed  by  a  slave  ;  as  in  Isa.  xix.  9  :  "  They  that  work 
*"Oy  in  fine  flax."  The  meaning  is,  they  that  labour  or  slave 

1"  (••     ) 

themselves  in  fine  flax.  The  working  in  fine  flax  was  slave-labour. 
If  it  were  good  English  for  us  to  say,  they  that  slave  in  fine 
flax,  it  would  be  exactly  what  the  prophet  did  say  in  this  passage. 
So  in  Exod.  xx.  9:  "Six  days  shalt  thou  labour  and  do  all  thy 
work"  Here  labour  is  translated  from  ebed  ^D^fl,  as  a  verb  "  do" 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  601 

is  from  nnrin  and  "  work"  from  ^nj^Slp.  The  literal  meaning 
of  this  is— Six  days  shalt  thou  slave  and  labour  all  thy  work ;— or, 
more  plainly— Six  days  shalt  thou  slave  thyself  (i.  e.  do  slave  labour) 
and  IVgty}  labour,  or  make  all  thy  Sjp^K1??  particular,  accus 
tomed,  professional  or  usual  work  or  labour.  This  command  is 
addressed  to  all  mankind,  and  the  propriety  of  it,  as  here  explained, 
will  be  seen  in  the  succeeding  verse.  "But  the  seventh  day  is  the 
Sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God;  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  H^H  any 
work  H^Sp'Sp  thou  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter,  nor  thy 
man-servant',  (^32  ebeddeJca,  slave.)"  So,  then,  if  this  particular 
word  had  not  been  used,  we  could  not  have  said  that  the  command 
applied  to  slaves. 

But  the  Hebrews  had  a  way  of  expressing  the  idea  of  labour 
alone,  associated  with  the  idea  of  industry  as  its  adjective  quality: 
Should  I  say,"  By  your  hands  you  shall  be  sustained,  the  idea 
would  be  that  you  shall  be  sustained  by  your  labour;  that  is,  your 
personal  industry.  So  the  Hebrews  used  the  words  T'71?  el  yod, 
which  means  «  5y  hand,"  and  is  used  to  mean  labour.  Thus, 
Prov.  xiii.  11 :  "  He  that  gathereth  by  vanity  shall  be  diminished, 
but  he  that  gathereth  by  labour  (T'S#  by  hand,  i.  e.  by  his  own 
industry)  shall  increase."  Is  it  not  clear,  then,  that  the  Hebrews 
stood  in  no  need  of  the  word  eled  to  mean  labour  generally.  They 
did  use  it  to  mean  slave-labour,  and  slave-labour  alone,  as  we  shall 
more  fully  see  hereafter. 

This  language  enabled  its  writers  to  express  the  distinctive 
shades  of  meaning— those  adjective  qualities  associated  with  the 
idea  labour.  These  facts  may  appear  to  the  mere  English  scholar 
as  matters  of  no  importance— not  worth  investigation.  But, 
touching  the  Hebrew  use  of  this  word  liy  ebed  and  its  com 
pounds,  as  it  affects  and  expresses  the  institution  of  slavery, 
amid  the  eras  of  Divine  inspiration,  we  hope  to  be  sustained  in 
the  consideration  of  its  very  great  importance. 


602  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


LESSON  IV. 

SOME  of  the  lexicons  say  that  this  root  *T  JjL?  ebed  means  also 
worship,  to  worship  God,  or  idols,  &c.,  without  any  connection 
with  the  idea  of  slavery.  In  Gf-en.  xxii.  5:  "And  I  and  the  lad 
will  go  yonder  and  worship;"  here,  worship  is  from  rPhJl^p^ 
from  the  root  nn^  shahah,  which  means  to  bow  down,  xxiii. 
12  :  "  And  Abraham  bowed  down  himself  before  the  people  of  the 
Lord,"  bowed  down  himself  ^flpB^I.  xlvii.  31:  "And  Israel 
bowed  himself  upon  the  bed's  head,"  IHfl^X  Exod.  iv.  31 : 
"  Then  they  bowed  their  heads  and  worshipped,"  ^firi!?^1).  This 
root,  like  all  others,  takes  upon  itself  a  change  of  shape,  according 
to  the  condition  in  which  it  is  used.  We  will  present  a  few  in 
stances  of  its  application  in  Hebrew.  Exod.  xi.  3 :  "And  bow 
down  themselves  unto  me,"  ^firi^ni.  xx.  5:  "Thou  shalt  not 
bow  down  thyself  ninJWfl  unto  them.' "  xxxiii.  10:  "And  the 
people  rose  up  and  worshipped,"  ^Hflt^'rP.  Deut.  xxvi.  10 : 
uAnd  worship  nHllD^I  before  the  Lord  thy  God."  Josh.  v. 

•*•        r      •—.  i-     :    •  : 

14:  "And  Joshua  fell  on  his  face  to  the  earth  and  did  worship," 
Ifin^l.  1  Sam.  xv.  30:  "That  I  may  worship  TnjlWrn. 
the  Lord  thy  God."  31:  "And  Saul  worshipped  ^flp^l  the 
Lord."  2  Sam.  i.  2  :  "  That  he  fell  to  the  earth  and  did  obeisance" 
infill,  xiv.  33:  "And  lowed  himself  infill  on  his  face  to 
the  ground  before  the  king."  1  Kings  i.  23  :  "He  boived  himself 
innC^l  before  the  king  with  his  face  to  the  ground."  2  Kings 
v.  18:  "When  my  master  goeth  into  the  house  of  Rimmon  to 
worship  NfaftQfrb  there,  *  *  *  and  I  bow  myself  WDP^H 
in  the  house  of  Rimmon,  *  *  *  when  I  bow  myself  down 
WiniWrO  in  the  house  of  Rimmon."  xviii.  22:  "Ye  shall 

•  T  T  -:  i-    :        •    : 

worship  'nnJWfl  before  the  altar  of  Jerusalem."     xix.  37  :   "And 

r      \-:j-: 

it  came  to  pass  as  he  was  worshipping  rnWlC^'9  in  the  house  .of 
Nishrosh,  his  God."  Job  i.  20  :  "  Then  Job  arose  and  fell  down 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERf. 


upon  the  ground  and  worshipped,"  inn^V  Ezek.  viii.  16  :  "  And 
they  worshipped  DfVinfi^p  the  sun  towards  the  east." 

Before  we  close  our  examples,  let  us  notice  how  the  Hebrews 
applied  this  word  in  poetry.  Ps.  xlv.  12  (11  of  the  English  text)  : 
"Worship  'inntprn  thou  him,"  xcix.  5:  "Exalt  ye  the  Lord 
our  God,  and  worship  IVJfJK^TI  at  his  footstool."  cvr.  19  : 
"  They  made  a  calf  in  Horeb  and  worshipped  'lirjJW'n  the  molten 

image."  xcvii.  7:  "Confounded  be  all  they  that  serve  (H5^ 
slave  themselves  to)  graven  images  ;  that  boast  themselves  of 
idols:  worship  ^finc^'H  him,  all  ye  gods."  In  this  instance,  the 
word  serve  associates  with  the  idea  of  slavery,  as  does  the  original  ; 
but  the  worship  with  that  of  reverence.  Both  words  occurring  in 
the  same  sentence,  will  give  us  some  idea  of  their  different  uses  ; 
yet  some  think  this  word  in  such  instances  synonymous  with  the 
word  worship,  notwithstanding  the  Hebrew  writers  thought  dif 
ferently;  yet  true  it  is,  this  word  is  sometimes  used  (as  it  were  by 
figure)  to  express  humility,  subserviency,  and  devotedness  of  the 
true  worshipper.  In  the  same  manner,  St.  Paul  expresses  the 
idea,  when  he  says,  that  he  is  the  doulos  (§oi&o$,  slave)  of  Jesus 

Christ.      In  an  analogous  sense,  the  Arabic  words  ^{&   hel  and 

'  Jlsb  hallel,  Hebrew  T?il  hallal,  are  used  to  mean  worship,  &c. 
Ps.  cl.  :  "Praise  ye  the  Lord,  praise  God  in  his  sanctuary," 
&c.,  where  this  word  is  in  frequent  use,  and  from  which  our  word 


hallelujah  has  arisen.  Also  the  Arabic  word  <\^t  hod,  Hebrew 
"Tin  hod,  is  in  somewhat  similar  use  :  Ps.  cxxxvi.  1,  2,  3,  all  'com 
mencing,  "0  give  thanks  to  the  Lord,"  meaning  glory,  majesty, 
or  dignity  to  the  Lord,  as  the  worship  of  the  Almighty.  We  trust 
no  one  has  ever  found  the  word  ebed  used  in  such  a  sense. 

But  it  is  said  that  n*Oj£  avoda  means  implements,  utensils, 
appurtenances,  (see  Cressenius,)  and  Num.  iii.  26,  31,  and  36, 
is  quoted  in  proof:  "And  the  hangings  of  the  court  and  the  cur 
tains  for  the  door  of  the  court,  which  is  by  the  tabernacle,  and  by 
the  altar  round  about,  and  the  cords  of  it,  for  all  the  service  there 
of."  Service  is  translated  from  IniDJJ  avodatho.  The  word,  as 
here  used,  means  slave-labour,  and  might  well  have  been  translated^ 
"  For  all  the  slave-labour  thereof,"  i.  e.  of  the  tabernacle.  We  can- 


£04  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 

no*  perceive  that  it  means  the  hanging  of  the  court,  or  the  curtains, 
or  cords.  The  other  instances  quoted  are  of  the  same  character, 
and  we  dismiss  their  consideration,  asking  the  passages  to  be  read. 
But  it  is  said,  to  minister,  to  minister  unto.,  is  sometimes  trans 
lated  to  the  word  ebed.  1  Kings  xix.  21 :  "  Then  he  arose  and 
went  unto  Elijah,  and  ministered  Virntfi^J  unto  him."  The  word 
is  from  the  root  rT\$  slier  eth,  and  means  to  wait  upon,  to  attend 
to,  &c.,  distinct  from  the  idea  of  slavery.  In  Matt.  iv.  11 :  "  Then 
the  devil  leaveth  him,  and,  behold,  angels  came  and  ministered 
(bwjxavow,  diekonouri)  unto  him. ' '  This  Greek  word,  we  deem,  would 
be  a  good  translation  of  this  word  from  Hebrew  into  Greek.  This 
word  is  used  in  Num.  iii.  6 :  "That  they  may  minister  unto  him." 
31:  "Wherewith  they  may  minister  im.C^  unto  it."  iv.  12: 
"And  they  shall  take  all  the  instruments  of  ministry  irntJV 
wherewith  they  minister.'"  14  :  "Wherewith  they  minister  about 
it."  xviii.  2:  "That  they  may  be  joined  unto  thee  and  minister 

Q 

Tprnt^'l  unto  thee."  \Kings  i.  4:  "And  the  damsel  was  very 
fair,  and  cherished  the  king  and  ministered  IHrng'jni  to  him." 
15  :  "  The  Shunammite  ministered  rn&'O  unto  the  king."  If  the 
word  ebed  had  been  used,  it  would  have  shown  that  she  was  a  slave. 
The  same  word  is  continued  to  be  used  to  mean  minister.  In 
1  Sam.  ii.  11 :  "  And  the  child  did  minister  unto  the  Lord  before 
Eli."  18:  "But  Samuel  ministered  rnt^tp  before  the  Lord, 
being  a  child."  iii.  1 :  "  And  the  child  Samuel  ministered  rntJ'D 
unto  the  Lord  before  Eli."  2  Sam.  xiii.  17:  "Then  he  called 
his  servant  (i"1#J  his  young  man)  that  ministered  IrntJ'D  unto 
him."  Now,  had  the  ebed  been  here  used  instead  of  this  word, 
as  a  verb,  in  the  required  mood  and  tense,  &c.,  it  would  have  been 
proof  that  the  young  man  was  a  slave.  But,  in  case  the  word 
ebed,  as  a  noun,  had  been  used,  instead  of  *1J^  nar,  then  this 
word  might  have  been  used  as  it  is,  without  affecting  the  slave 
character  of  the  servant,  livings  x.  5  :"  "And  the  sitting  of  his 

*    Q 

servants,  (V"QJ7  slaves,)  and  the  attendance  of  his  ministers," 

vm^o. 

T      :   T     : 

This  passage  shows  with  great  distinctness  the  different  use  and 
meaning  of  the  words  ebed  and  shereth,  between  those  who  minis- 


* 
STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  606 


tered  unto  hinu  and  those  who  did  slave-labour,  between  the 
minister  and  the  slave ;  and  so  we  ever  find  the  distinct  uses  and 
meanings  of  these  words.  See  Exod.  xxviii.  43  :  "  Or  when' 

they  come  near  unto  the  altar  to  minister  rHKv  in  the  holy 
place."  Deut.  x.  8:  "To  stand  before  the  Lord  to  minister 

irnty  7  unto  him."     xviii.  5 :  "  For  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  chosen 

*  .? 

him  out  of  all  thy  tribes  to  stand  to  minister  fnjfv  in  the  name 

of  the  Lord,  him  and  his  sons  for  ever."  1  Kings  viii.  11  :  "  So 
that  the  priests  could  not  stand  to  minister  fTU^  7  because  of  the 
cloud."  2  Kings  xxv.  14:  "And  all  the  vessels  of  brass  where 
with  they  ministered,  Ifi*)^*,  took  they  away."  2  Chron.  xxiv. 
14:  "Even  vessels  to  minister,"  D"}.^.  Neb.  x.  36  (the  27th 
of  the  Hebrew  text) :  "  Unto  the  priests  that  minister  in  the  house 
of  God."  39  (the  40th  of  the  Hebrew  text):  "And  the  priests 
that  minister"  DVT]??9JJ'  Isa.  Ix.  7  :  "The  rams  of  Nebaioth 
shall  minister  T^rnt^'.  unto  thee."  Let  it  be  noticed  that  the 
word  strangers  is  translated  from  the  word  *O3  nechar.  The  word 
is  of  Arabic  derivation  from  eker,  and  has  a  privative  sense,  as 
nescivit,  abrogavit,  improbavit.  Hence,  the  Hebrews  used  it  to 
mean  strange,  foreign,  and  sometimes  false,  as  in  Deut.  xxxii.  12 : 
"No  strange  (false)  God  with  him."  Mai.  ii.  11 :  "  The  daughter 
of  a  strange  (false)  God."  And  this  word  was  used  to  mean  the 
strangers,  idolaters,  and  rejected  people,  out  of  whom  the  Hebrews 
were  allowed  to  make  slaves,  and  therefore  it  was  used  in  Gf-en. 
xvii.  12  :  "  Or  bought  with  thy  money  of  any  stranger  ("ID  J  neker) 
which  is  not  of  thy  seed."  And  therefore  the  propriety  of  the  use 
of  this  word  in  the  description  of  those  who  should  be  their  drudges 
and  slaves,  is  beautifully  expressed  by  the  idea  of  building  up  their 
walls,  as  here  expressed  by  the  prophet.  But  the  idea  of  the  kings 
ministering,  is  as  before,  from  the  root,  shereth.  Many  more  ex 
amples  of  the  use  of  this  word  might  be  quoted ;  but  we  trust  the 
foregoing  are  sufficient  to  establish  its  meaning  to  be  altogether  dif 
ferent  and  distinct  from  any  use  of  the  word  ebed.  Yet,  there  are 
in  the  received  translation  of  the  holy  books,  a  few  instances  where 
this  word  is  translated  erroneously,  as  though  it  were  a  synonyme 
of  the  word  ebed. 


306  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 

In  Num.  xi.  28,  "  And  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  the  servant  of 
Moses,"  the  word  servant  is  translated  from  rHE'P,  and  should 
have  been  the  minister  of  Moses.  In  Exod.  xxiv.  13 :  "  Moses 
rose  up  and  Joshua  his  minister'  Irn^p.  In  this  last  quotation, 
minister  is  correctly  translated  from  the  word  as  above,  proving 
the  error  in  Numbers.  A  similar  error  occurs  also  in  JEzek.  xx. 
32  ;  it  reads  thus  :  "  And  that  which  cometh  into  your  mind  shall 
not  be  at  all  that  ye  say,  We  will  be  as  the  heathen,  as  the  fami 
lies  of  the  country  to  serve  fV^fr?  wo°d  and  stone."  Serve- is 
translated  from  as  above,  and  should  have  been  to  minister  unto 
wood  and  stone.  A  like  error  occurs  in  Exod.  xxxiii.  11 :  "  But 
his  servant  imC-'DI  Joshua,"  should  have  been  rendered,  "his 

:  IT     : 

minister  Joshua."  So,  also,  in  Num.  iv.  47,  the  word  ebed  is 
translated  as  a  synonyme  of  sherath.  The  passage  reads  thus : 
"From  thirty  years  old  and  upward,  even  unto  fifty  years  old, 
every  one  that  comes  to  do  the  service  of  the  ministry,  and  the 
service  of  the  burden  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation."  In 
this  passage,  the  word  ebed,  with  affixes,  is  used  four  times  con 
secutively,  and  immediately  followed  by  the  word  massa,  which  we 
have  before  seen  means  labour,  with  the  idea  of  the  burden  of 
labour  altogether  predominating. 

In  the  translation,  it  is  plain  to  see  that  one  of  these  words  is 
totally  left  out,  which,  we  suppose,  no  one  will  pretend  is  not  an 
error.  The  translation  made  of  these  five  words  at  the  Theological 
College  at  Andover,  is  far  more  correct  than  the  received  version.  It 
is  thus  :  "  to  perform  the  business  of  the  service  and  the  business  of 
the  burden,"  &c.  Yet  this  is  not  the  language  of  the  original, 

which  reads  thus :    NtPO  H  j^l_  rni#  rnjDJt?  IDifS. 

If  our  proposition  is  correct,  that  the  word  ebed  is  never  used 
in  Hebrew  expression  unassociated  with  the  idea  of  slavery,  then 
this  passage  from  Numbers  should  read  :  "  From  thirty  years  old 
and  upwards,  even  to  fifty  years  old,  every  one  that  comes  to  slave 
in  the  slavery  of  the  slave  labour,  and  in  the  slavery  of  the  burdens 
of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation."  We  agree  that  the  passage 
is  somewhat  difficult  to  render  into  English ;  but  because  we  may 
find  some  difficulty  in  making  good  English,  we  are  not  to  trans 
late  from  other  words  of  different  meaning  from  the  ones  used. 
The  holy  penmen  said  what  they  meant,  and  surely  meant  what 
they  said :  there  was  no  double  dealing  in  the  spirit  of  Jehovah, 
who  dictated  to  them.  But  that  translators  should  have,  in  some 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  607 

few  instances,  mistaken  or  confounded  the  use  of  cue  word,  is  not 
to  be  thought  strange.  Taking  into  view  the  volume  of  the  holy 
books,  it  is  truly  wonderful  that  greater  errors  were  not  committed. 
And  we  take  occasion  here  to  remark,  that,  of  all  the  ideas,  quali 
ties,  and  actions,  given  in  definition  of  the  word  ebed,  unassociated 
with  the  idea  of  slavery,  upon  examination  of  the  language,  we 
shall  find  graphic  symbols  representing  their  phonetic  signs,  dis 
tinct  from  the  idea  of  slavery,  as  we  have  these  already  examined. 


LESSON  V. 

To  show  more  clearly  that  the  word  H5J^  e^e^  '1S  never  used 
in  Hebrew  expression  unassociated  with  the  idea  of  slavery,  we 
now  propose  to  examine  that  word  as  used  by  the  Hebrew  writers 
in  the  holy  books.  Our  words  SERVANT,  servitude,  service,  &c. 
are  all  derived  from  the  Roman  word  SERVUS,  which  meant  a 
SLAVE  ;  and  our  word  servant,  when  first  introduced  into  our  lan 
guage,  as  absolutely  meant  a  slave  as  now  does  that  term  itself, 
and  even  now  fully  retains  that  meaning,  where  the  English  lan 
guage  and  slavery  coexist.  The  oriental  scholar  (and  let  him  be 
invited  to  examine)  will  perceive  that  the  word  *DJ£  ebed  was 
common  to  all  the  Shemitic  tribes,  and  almost  with  the  same  pho 
netic  particulars ;  but  as  their  figures  representing  the  same 
phonetic  power*  were  quite  dissimilar,  we  think  it  a  proof,  almost 
demonstration,  that  the  word  HDJ7  ebed  was  used  as  a  phonetic 
symbol  by  them  long  before  any  of  those  languages  were  written. 
This  circumstance  shows  the  extreme  antiquity  of  the  word ;  and 
if  we  succeed  to  establish  the  fact,  that  this  word  meant  nothing 
but  what  is  now  meant  by  the  word  slave,  we  shall  also  have  esta 
blished  the  extreme  antiquity  of  the  thing  itself.  A  word  means 
nothing,  until  it  is  by  some  means  agreed  what  it  shall  represent, 
what  idea,  or  association  of  ideas  it  shall  excite  in  the  mind. 
Hence,  it  not  unfrequently  occurs  that  a  thing  may  be  better 
described  by  paraphrasis  than  by  the  expression  of  a  single  term. 
In  Gf-en.  xii.  5  :  "And  Abram  took  Sarai  his  wife,  and  Lot  his  bro 
ther's  son,  and  their  substance  that  they  had  gathered,  and  the  souls 
that  they  had  gotten  in  ffaran."  The  latter  clause  of  this  sentence 
is  from  this  Hebrew  expression,  pnb 

7    I  ,yr  T   : 


608  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

which  is  correctly  translated  in  the  Andover  lexicon,  "  The  souls 
they  had  acquired  in  Haran."  Every  one  knows  that  the  things 
here  meant  are  slaves.  But,  when  the  scholar  comes  to  examine 
the  power  of  the  language  of  this  Hebrew  paraphrasis,  he  will  dis 
cover  three  incident  attendants.  £* £?•?!"?  hannephesh,  translated 
souls,  also  carries  with  it  the  idea  a  living  soul,  to  have  life, 
the  life  itself,  the  living  principle,  and  is  so  translated  in  many 
places.  A  slave,  therefore,  must  have  life  :  when  dead,  the  condi 
tion  ceases.  In  the  same  way,  the  sentence  expresses  the  idea  of 
acquiring  property  by  purchase,  or  any  other  way  in  which  pro 
perty  may  be  acquired  so  as  to  be  property.  The  three  incidents 
then  are  life,  a  capacity  of  being  acquired,  and,  when  so  acquired, 
property.  All  this  could  not  have  been  expressed  by  the  single 
term  ^Olf  ebed,  only  as  it  is  made  the  representative  of  this  com 
plex  idea :  and  God  has  no  doubt  caused  this  passage  to  be  on 
record  at  this  early  period,  that  these  incidents  should  finally  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  all  men.  A  somewhat  similar  expression  is 
used  in  .Rev.  xviii.  13.  Every  one  knows  that  Babylon  had  been 
a  great  slave-market.  St.  John,  after  naming  the  various  articles 
of  her  merchandise,  adds  xai  Tew  cro^aro^  XOLL  ryv  ^vy^v9  kai  ton 
somaton,  kai  ten  psuchen,  which  is  translated,  "  slaves  and  souls 
of  men:"  (TG^aTooz'  does  not  mean  slaves,  but  a  dead  body,  and  is 
so  used  by  Homer,  Xenophon,  and  by  the  New  Testament  itself; 
but,  when  united  with  xcu  ^r\v  ^vypiv,  means  'slaves  alone.  The 
phrase  "  souls  of  men,"  therefore,  in  the  translation,  is  surplusage. 
But  the  xii.  16  of  Crenesis  is  more  particular  in  giving  the  different 
kinds  of  property  and  their  appropriate  names.  "And  he  had 
sheep  and  oxen,  and  he-asses,  and  men-servants  (D'"O#  abadim), 
and  maid-servants,  and  she-asses,  and  camels."  The  word  men- 
servants  is  translated  from  the  plural  of  IDJ?  ebed.  Here  we  find 
the  conventional  term  expressing  the  complex  idea,  previously  ex 
pressed  by  the  phrase  "souls  gotten,"  persons  in  life,  subject  to 
be  purchased,  and  when  purchased,  property,  as  were  sheep  and 
oxen,  and  he-asses  and  she-asses,  and  camels.  In  Gren.  xvii.  9—13, 
we  begin  to  find  the  law  influencing  the  conduct  of  Abraham  in  the 
management  of  this  property :  "  And  God  said  unto  Abram,  thoi\ 
shalt,"  &c.  12:  "And  he  that  is  eight  days  old  shall  be  circum 
cised,"  &c. :  "He  that  is  born  in  thy  house,  or  bought  with  money 
of  any  stranger  which  is  not  of  thy  seed."  13  :  "  He  that  is  born 
in  thy  house,  and  he  that  is  bought  ivith  thy  money ',  must  needs  be 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  609 

circumcised."     And  let  it  here  be  remembered  that  God  recog 
nises  the  possession  of  this  property,  by  giving  directions  with  his 
own  voice  concerning  its  government.     And  in  Gf-en.  xx.  14,  we 
have  some  account  of  the  origin  of  Abraham's  title  to  some  por 
tion  of  this  property:  "And  Abimelech  took  sheep  and  oxen  and 
men-servants  (QHDJ?  ebedim,  the  plural  of  ebed),  and  gave  them 
to  Abraham."     xxiv.  35  :   "And  the  Lord  hath  blessed  my  master 
greatly,  and  he  is  become  great ;  and  he  hath  given  him  flocks 
and  herds,  and  silver  and  gold,  and  men-servants  and  maid-servants, 
and  camels  and  asses."     Here  the  plural  of  ebed  is  also  used. 
Such  is  the  title  by  which  he  possessed  this  property,  described  as 
given  to  him  by  the  Lord.     But  God  had  promised  that  he  would 
bless  Abraham,  G-en.  xvii.  1 :   "  The  Lord  appeared  unto  Abraham, 
and  said  unto  him,  Jam  the  Almighty  God"     2:   "And  I  will 
make  my  covenant  between  me  and  thee."     T  :  "  And  I  will  esta 
blish  my  covenant  between  me  and  thee,  and  thy  seed  after  thee 
in  their  generations,  for  an  everlasting  covenant."  10  :  "  This  is  my 
covenant."    (This  covenant  extends  from  the  beginning  of  the  10th 
to  the  end  of  the  14th  verse.)  One  part  of  this  covenant  was,  that  these 
ebeds,  translated  men-servants,  whether  born  in  his  house  or  bought 
with  his  money  of  any  stranger,  should  be  circumcised.     Where 
fore,  the  possession  of  these  ebeds  as  property  became  agreeable 
to  the  terms  of  the  covenant,  a  part  of  the  covenant  itself — a 
covenant  first  proposed  and  promulgated  by  the  great  Jehovah;  as 
he  styles  himself  in   the   covenant,   the  Almighty   God!     Gf-en. 
xxvi.  2 :  "  And  the  Lord  appeared  unto  him  (Isaac),  and  said,  Go 
not  down  into  Egypt :  dwell  in  the  land  which  I  shall  tell  thee  of: 
sojourn  in  this  land,  and  I  will  be  with  thee,  and  will  bless  thee." 
4  :  "  And  I  will  make  thy  seed  to  multiply  as  the  stars  of  heaven, 
and  I  will  give  unto  thy  seed  all  these  countries ;  and  in  thy  seed 
shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed."     13:  "And  the 
man  (Isaac)  waxed  great,  and  went  forward  and  grew  until  he  be 
came  very  great."     14:  "For  he  had  possession  of  flocks,  and 
possession  of  herds,  and  great  store  of  servants  (rn?J£  abuddah, 
slaves,  a  plural  formation  of   ebed),  and  the  Philistines    envied 
him."!!! 


39 


610  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


LESSON  VI. 

Cren.  xxvii.  29 :  "  Let  people  serve  thee  (^T^D^  be  slaves  to 
thee),  be  lord  over  thy  brethren,  and  let  thy  mother's  sons  bow 
down  to  thee  ;  cursed  be  every  one  that  curseth  thee,  and  blessed 
be  he  that  blesseth  thee."  Let  us  notice  the  conformity  of  this 
passage  with  Cf-en.  xxv.  23 :  "  And  the  Lord  said  unto  her,  two 
nations  are  in  thy  womb,  and  two  manner  of  people  shall  be  sepa 
rated  from  thy  bowels,  and  the  one  people  shall  be  stronger  than 
the  other  people,  and  the  elder  shall  serve  ("TbjJ!  ^e  a  slave  to) 
the  younger."  Cf-en.  xxx.  43:  "And  the  man  (Jacob)  increased 
exceedingly,  and  had  much  cattle,  and  maid-servants,  and  men- 
servants  (Q'"TD4P  the  plural  of  ebed),  and  camels  and  asses." 
Exod.  xx.  1,  2,  9,  10,  17:  "And  God  spake  all  these  words,  say 
ing,"  2:  "I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  which  have  brought  thee  out 
of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage"  (D'HDJ?  out 

A  r  T   ~: 

of  slavery}:  5  :  "Thou  shalt  not  boiv  down  (HinD^n  worship 
them)  thyself  to  them,  nor  serve  (0"Qj^O  t>e  a  s^ave  to  them) 

r\3  .*. 

them."  9  :  "  Six  days  shalt  thou  labour  (13J7D  slave  thyself,  or 
do  SLAVE-LABOUR)  and  do  (oso,  labour  or  do  work)  all  thy  work," 
(rVb^l.  all  thy  accustomed  labours.)  This  command  embraces 
all  classes,  the  slave  as  well  as  the  most  elevated.  All  men,  by 
the  fall  of  Adam,  had  become  subject  to  slave-labour.  10  :  "But 
the  seventh  day  is  the  sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  in  it  thou 
shalt  not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter,  thy 
man-servant  (^]^y  thy  slave),  nor  thy  maid-servant."  17:  In 
this  commandment  we  are  directed  not  to  covet  any  thing  that  is 
our  neighbour's,  including  his  man-servant  and  maid-servant. 
Here  the  same  word  lljy  *s  a^so  used.  Exod.  xxi.  1:  "Now 
these  are  the  judgments  which  thou  shalt  set  before  them."  2  :  "If 
thou  buy  a  Hebrew  servant  (ID^  ebed),  six  years  shall  he  serve 

("DJ£  shall  slave  himself)"  5:  "And  if  the  servant  (t^H 
ha  ebed,  slave)  shall  plainly  say,  I  love,"  &c.  Exod.  xxi.  7  :  "She 
shall  not  go  out  as  the  men-servants  do."  (D'""Opn  the  plural  is 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  611 


here  used.)  20  :  "  If  a  man  smite  his  servant  113#  or  his  maid 
with  a  rod,  and  he  die  under  his  hand,  he  shall  be  surely  punished: 
for  he  is  his  money."  26:  "If  a  man  smite  the  eye  of  his 
servant,"  IID^.  27  :  "  If  he  smite  out  his  man-servant's  tooth," 

1*131?-  32  ''-  "  -^  the  ox  s^a11  Pusl1  the  man~servant  ""Ql?  or  wa^~ 
servant,  he  shall  give  unto  their  master  thirty  shekels  of  silver, 
and  the  ox  shall  be  stoned." 

Lev.  xxv.  44:  "Both  thy  bond-men  ^"13^*!  and  tnj  bond 
maids  which  thou  shalt  have,  shall  be  of  the  heathen  that  are 
round  about  you,  of  them  shall  ye  buy  bond-men"  ("13^.  ebed.) 
45  :  "  Moreover,  of  the  children  of  the  strangers  that  do  sojourn 
among  you,  of  them  shall  ye  buy,  and  of  their  families  that  arc 
with  you,  which  they  beget  in  your  land,  and  they  shall  be  your 
possession."  46  :  "  And  ye  shall  take  them  as  an  inheritance  for 
your  children  after  you,  to  inherit  them  for  a  possession  ;  they 
shall  be  your  bond-men  nh&T)  for  ever." 

Deut.  v.  14  :  "  But  the  seventh  day  is  the  sabbath  of  the  Lord 

thy  God  ;  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor 

thy  daughter,  nor  thy  man-servant  ^IIV],  nor  thy  maid-servant, 

that  thy  man-servant  and  thy  maid-servant  may  rest  as  well  as 

thou."     15  :  "  And  remember  that  thou  wast  a  servant  (12%.  ebed) 

in  the  land  of  Egypt."     21  (18th  of  Hebrew  text)  :  "  Neither  shalt 

thou  covet  thy  neighbour's  house,  his  field,  or  his  man-servant 

Y-pin,  or  his  maid-servant."     Deut.  xii.  12:   "And  ye  shall  re 

joice"  before  the  Lord  your  God,  ye,  and  your  sons,  and  your 

daughters,  and  your  men-servants  (DSHDJTj  a  plural  form  of 

ebed),  and  your  maid-servants,  and  the  Levite,"  &c.     18:  "And 

thy  son,  and  thy  daughter,  and  thy  man-servant"  ^*]3#V    J)eut- 

xv.  12  :   "  If  thy  brother,  a  Hebrew  man,  or  a  Hebrew  woman,  be 

sold  unto  thee,  and  serve  TJTDJJI  thee  six  years." 

thou  shalt  remember  that  thou  wast  a  bond-man  ("D^  ebed)  in 

the  land  of  Egypt."     17:  "And  he  shall  be  thy  servant  (1?# 

ebed)  for  ever."     Deut.  xvi.  11:   "And  thou  shalt  rejoice  before 

the  Lord  thy  God,  thou,  and  thy  son,  and  thy  daughter,  and  thy 

man-servant  ^Z\  and  thy  maid-servant,  and  the  Levite  that 

is  within  thy  gates,  and  the  stranger,  and  the  fatherless,  and  the 

widow,  that  are  among  you."     12:   "And  thou  shalt  remember 

that  thou  wast  a  bond-man  (1?JJ  ebed)  in  Egypt."     14:  "And 

thou  shalt  rejoice  in  thy  feast,  thou,  and  thy  son,  and  thy  daugh- 


(312  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


ter,  and  thy  man-servant  TI'15^1,  and  thy  maid-servant,  and  the 
Levite,  the  stranger,  and  the  fatherless,  and  the  widow."  Deut. 
xx.  10 :  "  When  thou  comest  nigh  unto  a  city  to  fight  against  it, 
then  proclaim  peace  unto  it."  11:  "And  it  shall  be  if  it  make 
thee  an  answer  of  peace  and  open  unto  thee,  then  it  shall  be,  that 

all  the  people  found  therein  shall  be  tributaries  (DD  /  lamas, 
afflicted,  cast  down,  to  pay  tribute,  &c.),  and  they  shall  serve 
(^"O^l  t>e  thy  slaves)  thee."  Deut.  xxiii.  9-17  contains  certain 
laws  to  be  observed  in  time  of  war  with  their  enemies,  &c.,  one  of 
which  is,  that  a  slave  escaped  to  them  from  the  enemy  should  not 
be  restored,  &c.  Deut.  xxiii.  16  (15th  of  the  English  text) :  "Thou 
shalt  not  deliver  unto  his  master  the  servant,"  ("D#  ebed,  slave.) 
xxiv.  18  :  "  But  thou  shalt  remember  that  thou  wast  a  bond-man,'' 
("131?.  ebed,  slave.)  22:  "And  thou  shalt  remember  that  thou 
wast  a  bond-man,"  "13#.  G-en.  ix.  25  :  "And  he  said,  Cursed  be 
Canaan,  a  servant  of  servants  (ebed-ebedim)  shall  he  be  unto  his 
brethren."  26:  "And  he  said,  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Shem, 
and  Canaan  shall  be  his  servant,"  ("T2#  ebed.)  Many  more  in 
stances  of  a  similar  use  of  this  word  might  be  selected  from  the 
holy  books ;  some  of  which  we  hope  to  notice  in  the  progress  of 
our  study.  Such,  then,  was  the  Hebrew  use  of  the  word,  to  mean 
slave,  a  person  purchased  or  otherwise  acquired,  and  the  unques 
tionable  property  of  the  master.  Such  then  being  the  condition 
of  the  ebed,  slave,  it  is  evident  that  he  could  not  be  contented  and 
happy,  in  case  he  had  ambition  to  gratify,  with  hopes  and  prospects 
before  him  adverse  from  those  of  his  master ;  his  whole  earthly 
felicities  are  bound  up  in  his  master's  welfare  and  prosperity ;  like 
an  individual  of  an  army,  he  feels  that  the  elevation,  the  brilliancy 
of  the  commander  is  reflected  upon  him;  and  with  a  Christian 
spirit,  he  obeys  his  master  in  all  things,  "not  with  eye-service,  but 
with  singleness  of  heart,  fearing  God."  See  Col.  iii.  22.  In  such 
a  state  of  mind,  the  slave  finds  no  unhappiness  in  his  condition, 
but  joy  and  gladness ;  and  with  the  slave  of  Abraham,  he  implores 
Jehovah:  "  0  Lord  God  of  my  master  Abraham!  I  pray  thee 
send  me  good  speed  this  day,  and  show  kindness  unto  my  master 
Abraham :  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  my  master  Abraham,  who 
hath  not  left  destitute  my  master  of  his  mercy  and  truth."  G-en. 
xxiv.  12  and  27.  Expressive  of  a  character  of  perfect  devoted- 
ness,  humility,  and  obedience.  The  term  ebed  might  well  be  bor 
rowed  to  express  the  earnest  devotion  of  a  worshipper  of  Jehovah, 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  613 


and  is  so  often  used  in  connection  with  the  patriarchs,  Moses, 
David,  and  the  prophets.  The  term  thus  used  expresses  the 
quality  of  their  devotedness  and  obedience,  and  not  necessarily  the 
quality  of  the  individual.  In  this  sense,  the  apostles  style  them 
selves  the  (Sovfal,  douloi)  slaves  of  Jesus  Christ ;  not  that  they 
were  personally  douloi,  but  in  their  devotion  and  obedience  to  him, 
they  were  what  the  doulos  was  or  should  be  to  his  master.  It  is 
probable  that,  in  some  sense,  all  men  feel  that  in  the  hand  of  God 
they  are  as  clay  in  the  hands  of  the  potter ;  that  the  great  Je 
hovah  overrules  and  governs  all  things ;  that,  as  existences,  they 
are  from  and  dependent  on  him :  under  such  a  sense,  we  some 
times  find  the  term  ebed  applied,  as  in  the  name  Obadiah,  Oba- 
dyalm,  the  slave  of  God,  and  used  as  a  proper  noun.  But  such 
compound  words  are  dependent  for  their  meaning  upon  the  com 
plex  ideas  of  what  their  primitives  signified ;  and,  in  a  somewhat 
analogous  sense,  the  term  ebed  is  applied  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  he 
being  in  the  hands  of  the  Almighty,  as  clay  in  the  hands  of  the 
potter,  the  mere  instrument,  the  fabrication  of  his  hand.  There 
is,  however,  in  the  books  of  Ezra,  Nehemiah,  and  Daniel,  a  use  of 
this  word  peculiar  to  them ;  but  we  should  recollect  that  they  were 
educated  in  the  Persian  capital  and  employed  in  high  stations  by 
the  Persian  monarch.  We  may  therefore  well  expect  some  varia 
tion  in  their  dialect. 


LESSON  VII. 

AND  we  may  well  bring  to  mind  the  fact  that  there  are  two  dis 
tinctly  marked  eras  in  the  Hebrew  language.  The  first  ends  at 
the  Babylonish  captivity.  The  Pentateuch  and  older  prophets, 
Ruth,  Samuel,  Kings,  Psalms,  and  Proverbs,  come  within  this  era. 
The  second  commences  with  the  return  of  the  Israelites  from  that 
captivity,  and  extends  to  the  introduction  of  Greek  into  Palestine, 
subsequent  to  the  conquests  of  Alexander.  The  first  period  may 
be  emphatically  called  ancient  Hebrew  ;  and  the  latter,  more 
modern.  The  Hebrew  of  this  period  is  strongly  marked  by  an 
approximation  to  the  Chaldee  and  Persian.  To  this  period  of  the 
language  belong  the  books  of  Nehemiah,  Ezra,  Daniel,  Esther, 
Jonah,  Haggai,  Malachi,  Ecclesiastes,  and  a  part  of  the  Psalma ; 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

and  these  works  will  ever  be  regarded  by  the  oriental  scholar 
as  inferior  in  classical  literature  to  those  of  earlier  date,  not 
withstanding  their  other  merits  of  high  excellence.  But  some 
of  the  peculiarities  of  the  writings  of  the  second  period  arc 
not  to  be  regarded  as  recent  alterations,  but  as  the  phonetic, 
unwritten  Hebrew  of  the  more  remote  districts  of  Palestine  itself. 
The  variations  of  this  more  modern  from  the  ancient  Hebrew  are 
extremely  numerous,  both  as  to  the  substitution  of  one  word  for 
another,  but  also  as  to  a  change  of  meaning  of  the  same  word ;  as, 

for  instance,  the  more  ancient  would  have  used  the  word  Tl/p 
malaJc  to  signify  a  king,  to  rule,  &c. ;  but  the  more  modern  have- 
used  a  word,  which,  from  its  strong  phonetic  relation,  has  evidently 

been  derived  from  it,  ED1?^  shalat,  to  mean  to  rule,  &c.,  and  so 
used  Ps.  cxix.  133,  Eccl.  ii.  19,  Esther  ix.  1,  Neh.  v.  15,  .Dan. 
ii.  39,  and  in  many  other  places.  So  also  the  ancient  would  use 
the  word  *")DN  amar,  to  signify  to  speak,  to  say ;  but  the  more 

modern  uses  the  same  word  to  signify  to  command.  What  we  say 
is,  that  we  cannot  always  learn  the  original  meaning  of  a  word 
from  the  more  modern  use  of  it.  We  will  now  notice  the  use  of 
the  ancient  word  ebed  in  this  more  modern  dialect  of  the  Hebrews. 
In  Ezra  iv.  19,  we  find,  "And  that  rebellion  and  sedition  have  been 
made  therein"  is  translated  from  15J7flp  mithabed.  Let  us  ex 
amine  the  circumstances  under  which  this  sentence  was  written. 
Kehum  had  written  to  the  monarch  Artaxerxes  in  opposition  to 
the  building  of  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  informing  him  that  it  had 
ever  been  a  rebellious  city,  hurtful  to  kings,  &c. ;  in  answer  to 
which,  the  king  writes,  "  that  the  records  have  been  examined,  and 
it  is  found  that  this  city  of  old  time  hath  made  insurrection  against 
kings,  and  that  rebellion  and  sedition  hath  been  made  therein." 
The  Persian  monarchs  were  all  absolute ;  they  regarded  those  whom 
they  conquered  as  slaves ;  and  when  they  rebelled,  they  used  this 
word  to  signify  that  it  was  slaves  who  rebelled.  Our  word  servile 
is  somewhat  analogous,  and  might  very  properly  be  substituted  for 
it  in  the  foregoing  text,  thus :  "And  it  is  found,  this  city  of  old 
time  hath  made  insurrection  against  kings,  and  that  there  hath 
been  servile  rebellion  and  sedition  therein."  When  we  speak  of 
insurrection,  sedition,  rebellion,  or  war  with  slaves,  we  call  it 
servile,  as  Artaxerxes  did  in  this  case,  to  show  the  fact  that  the 
war  was  with  slaves.  Ezra  iv.  24,  this  word  fiTDJ^"*8  translated 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  615 


work.  So  in  v.  8,  Nfn'J3#  work,  vi.  7,  rnl3j£  work,  to  show 
that  the  labour  was  done  by  slaves,  or,  figuratively,  that  the  labour 
was  intense,  devoted,  and  obedient,  as  of  slaves,  vi.  8  :  p'l^H 
"Ye  shall  do"  12:  "njtyv  "Let  it  be  done  with  speed." 
13:  nj}#  "So  they  did  speedily:' 

vii.  18:  jnjSri  ")  "  That  do  after  the  will  of  your  God." 
and     n3J?p*7    \  "  To  do  with  the  rest  of  the  silver  and  gold." 

21:  n?#JV  "It  be  done  speedily."  23:  n3#JT  "Let  it  be 
diligently  done"  26:  I!}];  "Will  not  do"  "nj^Q  "Let 
judgment  5e  executed  speedily."  These  instances  of  the  use  of 
this  word  seem  somewhat  peculiar ;  but  we  must  recollect  that  the 
monarch  of  Persia  is  speaking,  who  regarded  not  only  the  Jews, 
but  all  his  subjects,  as  slaves.  It  was  the  court  manner  of  the 
eastern  monarchs  in  such  decrees  to  throw  in  occasionally  an  ex 
clamation  of  the  nature  of  an  imperative  interjection,  such  as, 
Slave,  attend!  Pay  attention,  slaves!  Listen,  slaves!  &c.,  all  in 
substance  meaning  that  those  to  whom  the  decree  is  issued  should 
perform  it  quickly  and  without  further  notice.  And  we  find  the 
same  custom  existing  among  them  even  at  this  day,  and  such  is 
the  true  sense  in  which  the  term  is  here  used.  Let  us  exemplify 
it.  Ezra  vi.  12  :  "  I,  Darius,  have  made  a  decree  ;"  then  follows 
the  Persian  adverb  NjHjDpK  asepporna,  which  means  quickly, 
speedily,  diligently,  &c. ;  then  the  word  in  question,  as  before 
noticed:  "quickly,  slaves,"  is  therefore  the  literal  meaning,  i.  e. 
what  he  had  decreed  they  should  instantly  perform.  We  do  not 
pretend  to  say  that  translating  it  to  do,  &c.  gives  a  substantially 
wrong  sense ;  but  it  seems  it  may  have  led  lexicographers  to  an 
erroneous  conception  of  the  meaning  of  the  word.  Jer.  x.  11 : 
"  The  gods  that  have  not  made  the  heavens  and  the  earth :"  made 

is  translated  from  ^"ifljf  •     If  this  word  is  the  correct  reading,  the 

rt  ~    ""* 

idea  of  the  prophet  had  regard  to  the  power,  not  to  the  act  of  a 
creator, — the  gods  that  have  not  subjected,  have  not  placed  in 
subjection,  as  if  in  slavery  to,  whose  laws  do  not  govern  the  heavens 
and  the  eartk  The  gods  who  could  not  do  these  things  are  not 
gods,  and  they  shall  perish.  This  was  the  idea  of  the  prophet. 
But  this  word  is  marked  in  all  the  best  copies  with  a  keri,  showing 
that  this  reading  was  suspected  by  the  Jewish  scholars  to  be  bad ; 
and  they  supply  in 'the  margin  the  words  PUfifcO  Hfifi,  which  is 


616  STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY. 


at  least  some  proof  that  they  thought  its  use  in  this  instance  unu 
sual  ;  and  Kennecott  and  De  Rossi  found  these  words  used  instead 
of  ITDIf  in  some  copies. 


LESSON  VIII. 

BUT  we  have  a  sure  method  by  which  we  may  discover  what 
meaning  Ezra  did  affix  to  this  word — by  examining  his  use  of  it  in 
those  cases  where  its  meaning  cannot  be  doubtful.  See  Ezra  iv. 
11:  "Thy  servants,"  TTTjlJ/.  v.  11:  "We  are  the  servants," 
*ni"OJ7,  having  relevance  to  their  devotedness  to  God.  vi.  16 
commences  vrith  the  word  'HDJ/',  which  is  omitted  in  our  transla 
tion.  The  sentence  should  commence  thus :  "And  the  slaves,  the 
children  of  Israel,  the  priests,"  &c.  ix.  9  :  "For  we  were  bond 
men  G*"Oy,  yet  our  God  hath  not  forsaken  us  in  our  bondage," 
13rn5ii5^  These  instances  clearly  show  how  Ezra  understood 
this  word :  notwithstanding  his  writings  were  touched  with  the 
Persian  and  Chaldee  idioms.  A  similar  result  will  be  found  upon 
the  examination  of  Nehemiah  and  Daniel.  Neh.  ii.  10  and  19  : 
"And  Tobiah  the  servant  "T^H,  the  Ammonite  heard  of  it"- 
"And  Tobiah  the  servant  "f3Jj£r,  the  Ammonite."  v.  5:  "Yet 

now  our  flesh  is  as  the  flesh  of  our  brethren,  our  children  as  their 

•p 
children:  and  lo,  we  bring  into  bondage  (D*£^3i)   Jcovshim)  our 

sons  and  our  daughters  to  be  servants  (D'"TD^7  slaves),  and  some 
of  our  daughters  are  brought  into  bondage  (nlt^MJ  subjections, 
not  necessarily  slavery)  already,"  ({JO3  kovash.)  The  root  from 
which  these  two  words  are  formed  in  no  sense  means  slavery,  but 
to  reduce1,  to  subdue,  to  humble ;  and  in  this  sense  is  used  in 
Esther  vii.  8,  and  translated  "force."  But  this  word  aids  very 
much  in  showing  what  idea  was  affixed  to  the  word  ebed;  and  we 
ask  to  compare  this  passage  of  Nehemiah  with  Jer^  xxxiv.  8-16 : 
"This  is  the  word  that  came  unto  Jeremiah  from  the  Lord,  after 
that  king  Zedekiah  had  made  a  covenant  with  all  the  people 
which  were  at  Jerusalem,  to  proclaim  liberty  unto  them ;  *  * 
that  every  man  should  let  his  man-servant,  (1*ilJJ?  male  slave,} 


STUDIES   ON  SLAVERY.  617 

and  every  man  his  maid-servant  inPT^ttf,  being  a  Hebrew  or  He- 
Jewess,  go  free ;  that  none  should  serve  (""O^  slave)  himself  of 
them,  to  wit,  of  a  Jew  his  brother.     Now,  when  all  the  princes, 
and  all  the  people  which  had  entered  into  the  covenant,  heard  that 
every  one  should  let  his   man-servant  (1*13#    male    slave),  and 
every  one  his  maid-servant,  go  free,  that  none  serve  themselves 
f"O£  slave  themselves),  of  them  any  more,  then  they  obeyed  and 
let  them  go.     But  afterwards  they  turned  and  caused  the  servants 
(D'"p#n  ha  abadim,  slaves),  and  the  hand-maids,  whom  they  had 
let  go  "free,  to  return.     Therefore  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to 
Jeremiah,  from  the  Lord,  saying,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  God  of 
Israel,  I  made  a  covenant  with  your  fathers  in  the  day  that  I 
brought  them  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of 
bond-men  (DH?#  ebedim,  slaves),  saying,  At  the  end  of  seven 
years,  let  go  every  man  his  brother  a  Hebrew,  which  hath  been 
sold  unto  thee;  and  when  he  hath  served  thee  (^^  slaved  for 
thee)  six  years,  thou  shalt  let  him  go  free  from  thee ;  but  your 
fathers  hearkened  not  unto  me,  neither  inclined  theif  ear.     And 
ye  were  now  turned,  and  had  done  right  in  my  sight,  in  proclaim- 
in^  liberty  every  man  to  his  neighbour  ;  and  ye  had  made  a  cove 
nant  before  me  in  the  house  which  is  called  by  my  name.     But  ye 
turned  and  polluted  my  name,  and  caused  every  man  his  servant, 
(I^Jj;  ebeddo,  slave,)  and  every  man  his  hand-maid,  whom  he  had 
set  at  liberty  at  their  pleasure,  to  return,  and  brought  them  into 
subjection  (^33111)  to  be  unto  you  for  servants  (DHDjn  for 
slaves),  and  for  hand-maids."     The  comparison  of  these  passages 
proves  the  fact  that  Nehemiah  and  Jeremiah  used  the  word  ebed 
to  mean  a  slave,  without  any  variation  of  meaning.     Nor  will  we 
hold  Nehemiah  responsible  for  his  word  ^3?  Jcavash,  subjection, 
being  translated  bondage.     Neh.  vii.  66,  67,  gives  an  account  of 
the  captive  Israelites  that  returned  from  Susa  and  Babylon  to 
Jerusalem.     «  And  the  whole  congregation  together  was  forty  and 
two  thousand  three  hundred  and  threescore.     Besides  their  man 
servants  (DiT-OJ?  male  slaves),  and  their  maid-servants,  of  Avhom 
there  were  seven  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty  score."     We 
trust  that  so  varied,  particular,  and  descriptive  are  the  records  left 
in  the  holy  books  through  which  we  may  search  out  what  the  He 
brews  meant  by  their  use  of  the  word  ebed  (131?),  that  its 
tainty  and  definiteness  must   place    the  inquiry  beyond  doubt. 


(318  STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 


But  as  in  this  instance  the  word  &JOD  Jcavash  has  been  translated 

—    T 

bondage,  it  may  be  well  to  give  a  few  examples  of  its  use  in  tty? 
holy  books,  that  all  may  see  and  know  that  its  meaning  is  totally 
distinct  from  that  of  slavery.  Gren.  i.  28  :  "  Multiply  and  re 
plenish  the  earth  and  subdue  it,"  H  2^551.  Num.  xxxii.  22: 
"And  the  land  be  subdued  HtTDO^  before  the  Lord."  29  :  "And 

;T     :     :     •    : 

the  land  shall  be  subdued  n^3341  before  you."  Josh,  xviii.  1  : 
"And  the  land  was  subdued  HBODJ)  before  them."  2  Sam. 
viii.  1:  "Which  he  subdued,"  W33.  2  Chron.  ix.  18:  "With  a 
footstool,"  £'53  !>  because  a  footstool  was  in  the  place  of  subjec 
tion.  Zech.  ix.  15:  "And  subdue  IC^JDl  with  sling-stones." 
Micali  vii.  19:  "He  will  subdue  t^'lDD?  our  iniquities."  The 
foregoing  examples,  we  trust,  are  sufficient  to  disabuse  the  mind 
)f  the  idea  of  any  synonyme  of  meaning  of  these  two  words. 


LESSON  IX. 

WE  propose  to  examine  the  Hebrew  use  of  the  word  ebed  in  the 
5th  and  15th  of  the  second  chapter  of  Genesis :  "In  that  day  the 
Lord  God  made  the  earth,  and  the  heavens,  and  every  plant  of 
the  field  before  it  grew ;  for  the  Lord  God  had  not  caused  it  to 
rain  upon  the  earth,  and  there  was  not  a  man  to  till  "li#7  the 
ground."  To  till  is  here  translated  from  this  word  ebed,  with  the 

affix  of  the  preposition  7.  This  is  the  first  instance  in  which  the 
word  is  used  in  the  holy  book  ;  and  it  may  seem  extremely  strange 
that  the  writers  of  these  books  found  its  use  necessary  in  their  de 
scription  of  events  even  before  the  creation  of  man.  It  is  not  our 
business  to  draw  out  theological  doctrine  unconnected  with  the 
subject  of  our  present  inquiry;  but  we  suppose  it  will  not  be  dis 
puted  that  the  great  Jehovah  as  well  knew,  before  he  created  the 
heavens  and  the  earth,  and  man  upon  the  earth,  all  and  every  par 
ticular  of  what  would  happen,  as  at  any  subsequent  time :  with 
him,  a  day  is  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one 
day.  We  may  behold  the  birth,  maturity,  and  death  of  some 
animalcula,  in  a  day  or  in  an  hour.  But,  with  him  the  succession 
of  generations,  of  the  animal  life  of  a  thousand  years,  pass  in  in- 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  G19 

stantaneous  and  present  view.  Time  appertains  alone  to  mortals. 
He  saw  the  most  ultimate  condition  of  man ;  and  the  earth  and 
the  herb  were  made  to  suit  it.  But  from  the  manner  of  the  ex 
pression  of  the  text,  may  we  not  conclude  that  the  herb,  although 
made,  would  not  grow  until  man  was  created,  and  in  the  condition 

to  till  flDl*^  to  slave)  the  ground  ?     The  support  of  the  animal 

world,  independent  of  man,  is  spontaneously  presented  before 
them :  not  so  with  man  in  his  fallen  state.  "  He  sendeth  the 
springs  into  the  valley,  which  run  among  the  hills.  They  give 
drink  to  every  beast  of  the  field :  the  wild  asses  quench  their  thirst. 
By  them  shall  the  fowls  of  heaven  have  their  habitation,  which 
sing  among  the  branches.  He  watereth  the  hills  from  his  cham 
bers  ;  the  earth  is  satisfied  with  the  fruit  of  thy  works.  He 
causeth  the  grass  to  grow  for  the  cattle,  and  herb  for  the  service 

(rnhjn  for  the  slavery)  of  man :  that  he  may  bring  forth  food 

out  of  the  earth,"  Ps.  civ.  10-14.  The  second  instance  in  which 
this  word  is  used  is  in  Gf-en.  ii.  15 :  "And  the  Lord  God  took  the 
man  and  put  him  into  the  garden  of  Eden  to  dress  it,  and  to  keep 

it."  To  dress  it  is  translated  from  this  word  rHSJrp.  There 
is  certainly  much  obscurity  in  the  use  of  the  word  in  this  instance. 
Professor  Stuart,  of  Andover,  supposes  that  it  inculcates  the  doc 
trine  that  labour  was  imposed  on  man  in  the  paradisiacal  state  ; 
consequently,  that  labour  was  no  part  of  the  curse  which  followed 
the  apostacy.  (See  his  Chreestomathy,  page  105.)  This  view  ex 
cludes  the  idea  that  the  word,  as  here  used,  is  associated  with  the 
idea  of  slavery,  and  that,  if,  in  the  interchange  of  language, 
although  the  idea  of  labour  may  predominate,  nevertheless,  it 
must  be  slave  labour.  Our  mind  does  not  yield  its  assent  to  his 
position.  We  had  associated  with  our  idea  of  this  paradise  the 
most  perfect  heaven,  the  dwelling-place  of  Jehovah ! !  and  that 
the  generations  of  man,  when  guided  and  governed  by  Divine 
mercy  in  such  a  manner  that  we  could  be  happy  therein,  that  it 
would  yet  become  our  ultimate  home, — ("He  that  hath  an  ear,  let 
him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches ;  To  him  that 
overcometh  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life,  which  is  in  the 
midst  of  the  paradise  of  God,"  Rev.  ii.  7,) — and  that  the  humble 
worshipper  of  Jehovah  while  in  a  state  of  progressive  preparedness, 
would  therefore  cry  out  with  the  Psalmist,  "  Unto  thee  I  lift  mine 
eyes,  0  thou  that  dwellest  in  the  heavens !  Behold,  as  the  eyes 


(J20  STUDIES   ON    SLAVEEY. 


of  servants  (DHD^  male  slaves)  look  unto  the  hand  of  their  mas 
ter;  and  as  the  eyes  of  a  maiden  (iffl-p^'  shiphhah,  female  slave) 
unto  the  hand  of  her  mistress,  so  our  eyes  wait  upon  the  Lord  our 
God  until  he  have  mercy  upon  us."  Ps.  cxxiii.  1,  2.  If  then  the 
paradise  of  old  was  the  type  of  the  paradise  eternal,  it  would  seem 
that  the  labour  of  the  ebed  was  excluded  therefrom:  "Because 
the  creature  itself  also  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage 
(8ov%£ia$,  slavery)  of  corruption  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the 
children  of  God."  Rom.  viii.  21.  And  for  this  very  good  reason, 
that  slavery,  the  consequent  of  sin,  could  never  find  entrance 
there  :  regeneration  is  therefore  indispensable. 

"It  strikes  me  that  the  use  of  the  verb  ("QJ^  abad,  Grew.  ii.  5) 
presents  no  difficulty  that  calls  for  explanation.  The  language 
of  inspiration  is  man's  language,  though  employed  by  God.  The 
events,  facts,  things,  acts,  that  preceded  man's  creation,  must  still 
be  described  by  language  and  terms  that  had  come  into  use  after 
mans  creation.  Man  must  first  exist  before  there  could  be  words 
to  be  used  in  conveying  knowledge  to  man.  A  word  implying 
slavery  might  therefore  most  reasonably  be  found  in  a  description 
of  things  prior  to  the  existence  of  man,  or  of  slavery,  which  de 
scription  was  written  long  afterwards  by  Moses,  and  in  language 
which  was  in  use  amongst  the  men  for  whom  he  wrote.  When 
Moses  wrote,  when  God  inspired  him,  "13J£  ebed  was  a  familiar 
word."  Extract  from  manuscript  letter  of  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Stratton 
to  the  author. 

But  in  the  pursuance  of  the  chain  of  thought  that  first  was  im 
pressed  on  our  mind,  we  have  to  remark  that  the  word  Eden  meant 
pleasure,  happiness.  It  seems  to  have  been  derived  from  or 

cognate  with  the  Arabic  word  ^Ja£  aden,  and  means  softness,  gen 
tleness,  mildness,  tenderness,  and  daintiness,  in  that  language. 
The  Hebrews  had  also  another  word  from  this  same  root,  >"lj£  adi, 
to  mean  ornaments,  &c.,  and  J'."1J£  adain,  to  mean  luxuriousness 
and  delicate.  The  word,  as  used  in  the  text  before,  is  applied  to  a 
district  of  country,  and  confers  the  adjective  qualities  to  said  dis 
trict,  i.  e.  a  district  of  country  of  great  pleasure  and  delight.  The 
general  boundaries  are  given  and  described  by  the  naming  of  its 
rivers.  It  was  of  considerable  extent,  embracing,  perhaps,  more 
than  the  whole  of  the  ancient  Armenia. 

"And  a  garden  was  planted  eastward  in  Eden."  Garden  is  trans 
lated  from  p  gan.  The  word  is  derived  from  J13  ganan.  The 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  621 

word  means,  to  protect,  protection,  a  thing  protected.  The  idea 
expressed  by  it  is  not  confined  to  a  single  walled  area ;  but  the 
two  words  are  often  used  together,  as  if  it  was  intended  to  convey 
the  idea  of  the  fact  that  the  protection  extended  to  the  whole  of 
Eden.  And  it  may  be  well  conceived  that  innocency  was  its  pro 
tection.  Here  cunning  art  never  wove  its  web  for  the  entangle 
ment  of  its  victim.  Here  no  crocodile  tears  enticed  sympathy 
within  the  reach  of  harm.  Here  no  vile  wretch  ever  betrayed  a 
brother's  confidence.  Here  the  lion  and  the  lamb  might  have 
couched  together,  and  the  infant  have  played  with  the  tiger's  paw. 
We  are  aware  that  some  modern  scholars  consider  the  description 
of  the  garden  of  Eden  by  Moses  a  mere  picture  of  the  mind. 
Rosenmaeler  says  that  it  is  on  a  par  with  Virgil's  description  of 
the  Elysian  fields.  This  class  of  philosophers  consider  the  whole 
as  a  fiction :  but  man  had  his  commencement  somewhere,  and  it  is 
a  fact  that  four  large  rivers,  answering  to  the  outlines  of  the  general 
description  of  Moses,  do  flow  from  fountain-heads  not  more  than 
thirty  or  forty  miles  apart,  in  the  central  and  most  elevated  region 
of  Armenia.  These  streams  meander  through  the  same  countries 
described  by  him,  and  exhibit  the  same  mineral  productions  :  nor 
would  it  be  any  thing  remarkable,  if  investigation  should  yet  prove 
that  they  were  all  indebted  to  one  and  the  same  source.  Let  us 
consider  then,  whether  it  was  not  a  fact  that  the  garden  of  Eden 
was  not  confined  to  a  little  plat  of  ground,  but  included  a  whole 
district  of  country,  embracing  the  visible  sources  of  the  rivers 
named:  a  district  of  country,  from  the  mildness  of  its  climate, 
fruitfulness,  and  other  causes  of  pleasure  and  delight,  exceedingly 
well  adapted  to  the  early  residence  of  man.  We  have  therefore 
no  well  founded  reason  to  believe  that  the  account  given  by  Moses 
of  the  garden  of  Eden  was  a  fiction,  independent  of  Divine  au 
thority.  But  his  account  must  be  understood  so  as  to  be  consistent 
with  itself,  and  with  the  facts  now  existing  of  which  it  speaks. 
We  are  not  under  the  necessity  of  supposing  that  the  felicity  of 
our  first  parents  was  confined  to  the  locality  named:  a  paradise 
was  to  them  anywhere.  It  was  their  innocence,  not  the  location, 
that  made  it  so ;  and  thus  they  were  driven  out  of  paradise,  per 
haps,  without  a  change  of  location.  The  use  of  the  word  eled 
131%  in  ii-  15  °f  Genesis,  might  then  well  be  of  the  same  fore 
shadowing  import  as  in  the  first  instance  of  its  use,  even  before 
the  creation  of  man.  For,  who  must  not  conclude,  when  man  was 
first  placed  in  paradise,  that  God  did  not  as  clearly  see  his  apostasy 


622  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

then,  as  now  ?  By  his  wisdom,  power,  and  mercy,  all  nature  was 
ready-prepared  for  the  change,  and  poor  fallen  man,  without 
change  of  habitation,  found  that  habitation  no  longer  heaven,  and 
commenced  his  first  act  of  slavery  by  the  vain  attempt  to  hido 
himself  from  God  and  his  own  contempt.  And  here,  let  us  re 
mark,  tve  find  the  true  commencement  of  slavery.  "And  Jesus ^ 
answered  them,  Verily,  verily.  I  say  unto  you,  whosoever  commit- 
teth  sin  is  the  servant  (Sou/log,  slave)  of  sin."  Johnviii.  34.  Force, 
disease,  ruin,  and  death  were  now  introduced  to  man.  For,  "A 
servant  (IDI^  slave)  will  not  be  corrected  by  words."  Prov.  xxix. 
19.  God  had  mercifully  contrived  that  he  should  be  forced  to 
action.  "  He  that  tilleth  ("OI7  slaveth)  his  land  shall  have  plenty 
of  bread  ;  but  he  that  followeth  after  vain  persons  shall  have 
poverty  enough."  Prov.  xxviii.  19.  When  God  made  "every 
plant  of  the  field  before  it  was  in  the  earth,  and  every  herb  of 
the  field  before  it  grew,"  foreseeing  the  apostasy  of  man — its  poi 
sonous  effect  upon  his  moral  and  physical  condition — its  direct 
influence  to  produce  immediate  ruin  and  death,  he  also  provided, 
ordained,  and  decreed  a  relation,  a  law  between  man  and  his  men 
tal  and  physical  wants,  which  must  cleave  unto  him,  upon  his 
apostasy,  and  be  of  the  utmost  value  and  efficacy  in  alleviating, 
removing,  and  preventing  the  final  evils  incident  to  his  poisoned 
condition.  This  relation,  law,  institution,  was  the  ebeduth,  the 
institution  of  slavery,  as  expressed  mEzra  ix.  8,  9:  "And  give  us 
a  little  reviving  in  our  bondage  (IJDIDi/  ebeduthenu,  slavery). 
For  we  were  bond-men  (DHDJ^  abedim,  slaves),  and  yet  our  God 
hath  not  forsaken  us  in  our  bondage,"  IJHIDJ/.  So  in  2  Chron. 
xii.  8:  "Nevertheless,  ye  shall  be  his  servants  (D'"D)?7  le-obedim, 
his  slaves),  that  they  may  know  my  service  (Vi"TlH£  slavery),  and 
the  service  (mlDJH  and  the  slavery)  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  coun 
tries."  So  in  Esther  vii.  4:  "For  we  are  sold,  I  and  my  people, 
to  be  destroyed,  to  be  slain,  and  to  perish.  But  if  we  had  been 
sold  for  bond-men  (D'"OJ?  7  nlPTfiB^n)  and  bond-women,  I  had 

v  •  T  *:i-  <   T    :      •    ;' 

held  my  tongue." 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  623 


LESSON  X. 

TOWARDS  the  close  of  the  book  of  Deuteronomy,  Moses,  having 
delivered  to  the  children  of  Israel  such  of  the  laws  of  the  Almighty 
as  were  then  deemed  necessary  for  their  government  and  guidance, 
proceeds  to  inform  them  of  the  consequences  of  disobedience  ;  and 
boldly  informs  them,  xxviii.  15,  "But,  if  it  shall  come  to  pass  if 
thou  wilt  not  hearken  unto  the  voice  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  to  ob 
serve  and  to  do  all  his  commandments,  and  his  statutes  which  I 
command  thee  this  day,  that  all  these  curses  shall  come  upon  thee 
and  overtake  thee.  16 :  Cursed  shalt  thou  be  in  the  city,  and 
cursed  shalt  thou  be  in  the  field.  17  :  Cursed  shall  be  thy  basket 
and  thy  store.  18  :  Cursed  shall  be  the  fruit  of  thy  body  and  the 
fruit  of  thy  land,  the  increase  of  thy  kine,  and  the  flocks  of  thy 
sheep.  19  :  Cursed  shalt  thou  be  when  thou  comest  in,  and  cursed 
shalt  thou  be  when  thou  goest  out.  20  :  The  Lord  shall  send  upon 
thee  cursing,  vexation,  and  rebuke,  in  all  thou  settest  thy  hand 
unto  for  to  do,  until  thou  be  destroyed,  and  until  thou  perish 
quickly,  because  of  the  wickedness  of  thy  doings  whereby  thou 
hast  forsaken  me."  "And  the  Lord  shall  bring  thee  into  Egypt 
again  with  ships,  by  the  way  whereof  I  spake  unto  thee.  Thou 
shalt  see  it  no  more  again,  and  there  ye  shall  be  sold  unto  your 

enemies  for  bond-men  (D*"OJ77  la  obedim,  for  slaves),  and  bond 
women,  and  no  man  shall  buy  you."  They  should  be  so  trifling 
and  worthless  that  no  one  would  wish  to  buy  them.  Josh.  ix. 
23-27  :  "Now,  therefore,  ye  are  cursed,  and  there  shall  none  of  you 
be  freed  from  being  bond-men  (""Di?  slaves),  and  hewers  of  wood 
and  drawers  of  water,"  &c.  "And  Joshua  made  them  that  day 
hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water,  for  the  congregation,  and 
for  the  altar  of  the  Lord,  even  unto  this  day." 


624  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


LESSON  XL 

BEFORE  closing  this  subject  we  offer  a  few  more  examples  of 
the  Hebrew  use  of  this  word.  "Who  is  David?  and  who  is 
the  son  of  Jesse?  There  be  many  servants  (DHD?  s^aves) 
now-a-days  that  break  away  every  man  from  his  master."  1  Sam. 
xxv.  10.  Nabal  pretended  in  his  drunkenness,  that  he  might  be 
a  runaway  slave.  1  Kings  ii.  29,  40:  "And  it  came  to  pass  at 
the  end  of  three  years,  that  two  of  the  servants  (DHDJ?.  ebedim, 
slaves)  of  Shimei  ran  away  unto  Achish,  son  of  Maachah  king  of 
Gath  ;  and  they  told  Shimei,  saying,  Behold  thy  servants  (^.51? 
slaves)  be  in  Gath.  And  Shimei  arose  and  saddled  his  ass,  and 
went  to  Gath  to  Achish  to  seek  his  servants  (V1DJJ  slaves),  and 
Shimei  went  and  brought  his  servants  (IHDl?  slaves)  from  Gath." 
1  Kings  ix.  20,  21,  arid  22  :  "And  all  the  people  that  were  left 
of  the  Amorites,  Hittites,  Perizzites,  Hivites,  and  Jebuzites,  which 
were  not  of  the  children  of  Israel,  their  children  that  were  left 
after  them  in  the  land,  whom  the  children  of  Israel  also  were  not 
able  utterly  to  destroy,  upon  these  did  Solomon  levy  a  tribute  of 
bond-service  ("DJ?  obed,  slavery)  unto  this  day.  But  of  the  children  of 
Israel  did  Solomon  make  no  bond-men,"  05^  ebed,  slaves.)  ZChron. 
viii.  9  :  "  But  of  the  children  of  Israel  did  Solomon  make  no  ser 
vants  (DHDJfS  la  ebedim,  no  slaves)  for  his  work,  (ifipN^/P? 
his  works,  labours.)  But  they  were  men  of  war,  and  chief  of  his 
captains,  and  captains  of  his  chariots  and  horsemen."  2  Kings 
iv.  1 :  "  Now  there  cried  a  certain  woman  of  the  wives  of  the  sons 
of  the  prophets  unto  Elisha,  saying,  Thy  servant,  my  husband,  is 
dead,  and  thou  knowest  that  thy  servant  did  fear  the  Lord,  and 
the  creditor  is  come  to  take  unto  him  my  two  sons  to  be  bond 
men"  (DHDi?S  la  ebedim,  for  slaves.)  In  1  Chron.  xxvii.  26, 
this  word  is  used  in  a  sense  quite  analogous  to  slave-labour,  thus  : 
"  And  over  them  that  did  the  work  (meleketh,  i.  e.  the  particular 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY.  625 

work  or  labour)  of  the  field  for  tillage  (HIDJ/  7  slave-labour)  of 
the4 ground,  was  Ezra,  the  son  of  Chelub."     Job  i.  2,  3  :  "And 
there  were  born  unto  him  seven  sons  and  three  daughters.     His 
substance   also  was  seven  thousand  sheep,  and  three  thousand 
camels,  and  five  thousand  yoke  of  oxen,  and  five  hundred  she- 
asses,  and  a  very  great  household."     The  word  "household"  is 
here  translated  from  JT;J3#1  va  ebudda,  a  body  of  slaves,  i.  e.  a 
large  family  of  slaves.     Job  iii.  19  :  "The  small  and  the  great  are 
there,  and  the  servant  ("QJft  ve  ebed,  the  slave),  is  free  from  his 
master."     Job  xxxi.  13  :  "If  I  did  despise  (COS^'P  misjudge)  the 
cause  of  my  man-servant,"  (H?^  my  slave.)    Job  xxxix.  9  :  "  Will 
the  unicorn  be  willing  to  serve  thee  ?"  (?]"!3#  be  a  slave  to  thee') 
Ps.  cxvi.  16:  "0  Lord,  truly  I  am  thy  servant  (^3#  obedeJca, 
slave) ;  I  am  thy  servant  OH3#  slave),  and  the  son  of  thy  hand 
maid   fflflO^    amatheJca,  female   slave)  :    thou   hast   loosed   my 
bonds."     It  is  a  little  remarkable  how  similar  is  this  sentiment  of 
David  to  one  expressed  by  St.  Paul.     Prov.  xii.  9  :  "  He  that  is 
despised  and  hath  a  servant  ("13#  ebed,  slave)  is  better  than  he 
that  honoureth  himself  and  lacketh  bread."     Prov.  xvii.  2:  "A 
wise  servant  (1?^  ebed,  slave),  shall  rule  over  a  son  that  causeth 
shame,  and  shall  have  part  of  the  inheritance  among  the  brethren." 
Prov.  xxx.  21,  22,  23:  "For  three  things  is  the  earth  disquieted, 
and  for  four  which  it  cannot  bear:  For  a  servant  (TJJJ  ebed, 
slave)  when  he  reigneth  0]lSp?  imlok),  and  a  fool  when  he  is 
filled  with  meat.     For  an  odious  woman  when  she  is  married,  and 
a  hand-maid  (r\n$$}femak  slave)  that  is  heir  to  her  mistress." 
Heel.  ii.  7.     "I  got  me  (Tl^p   kanithi,  I  purchased)   servants 
(D>"P#  male  slaves)  and  maidens  (nlri&^'l  female  slaves),  and 
had"  servants  born  in  my  house."     Heel.  vii.  21 :  "Also  take  no 
heed  unto  all  words  that  are  spoken,  lest  thou  hear  thy  servant 

(?H32  *&«*)  curse  thee-"    ^  ii.  14:  "Is  Israel  a  servant 

n3#n  a  slave)?  is  he  a  home-born  slave?  why  is  he  spoiled?" 
In  thVlatter  part  of  this  quotation,  the  word  11$  ebed  is  not^  ex 
pressed  in  Hebrew,  but  understood,  as  is  often  the  case  in  English: 
yet  King  James's  translators  did  not  hesitate  to  supply  it  in  Eng- 

40 


•9 

STUDIES   ON    SLAVERY. 


lish  with  the  word  slave,  giving  indisputable  proof  of  what  they 
understood  the  word  ebed  to  mean,  and  also,  that  they  used  the 
English  wrord  servant  as  a  synonyme  of  the  word  slave.  The 
omission  to  express  the  word  "OJ^  e^ea  i*1  Hebrew,  in  this  in 
stance,  has  the  effect  to  make  the  idea  conveyed  by  the  prophet 
more  emphatic  ;  and  hence  the  translators  seem  to  have  felt  the 
necessity  of  using  the  most  forcible  synonyme,  in  order  that  they 
might  truly  and  beyond  doubt  convey  the  full  import  of  the  pro 
phet's  meaning.  Mai.  i.  6  :  "A  son  honoureth  his  father,  and  a 
servant  ("OJ£1  slave)  his  master."  This  passage  is  a  connecting 
link  in  a  chain  of  reasoning,  and  the  prophet  continues  thus  :  "  If 
then  I  be  a  father,  where  is  my  honour  ?  If  I  be  a  master,  where 
is  my  fear  ?  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  unto  you,  0  priests  that  despise 
my  name.  And  ye  say,  Wherein  have  we  despised  thy  name  ?"  As 
though  they  were  astonished  at  the  accusation  !  And  this  is  the 
answer  —  7  :  "  Ye  offer  polluted  bread  upon  mine  altar."  A  figure, 
to  show  that  they  had  become  wholly  disobedient,  and  held  in  dis 
regard  the  law  of  God.  By  their  disobedience,  they  were  degene 
rating  from  the  condition  of  the  son  to  that  of  the  ebed.  Instead 
of  being  influenced  by  love,  they  were  about  to  be  operated  upon 
by  fear,  and  hence  the  prophet  continues,  ii.  1  :  "  And  now,  0  ye 
priests,  this  commandment  is  for  you.  If  ye  will  not  hear, 
and  if  ye  will  not  lay  it  to  heart,  to  give  glory  unto  my  name, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  I  will  even  send  a  curse  upon  you,  and  I 
will  curse  your  blessings,  yea,  I  have  cursed  them  already,  because 
ye  do  not  lay  it  to  heart.  3  :  Behold,  I  will  corrupt  your  seed, 
and  spread  dung  upon  your  faces."  He  would  curse  them  with 
the  hateful  curse  of  Cain.  And  we  beg  to  notice  this  scriptural 
glancing  at  the  doctrine  that  a  course  of  sin  does  produce  some 
change  upon  the  physical  man,  —  some  change  of  countenance, 
which  is  continued,  degenerating  and  deteriorating  the  succeeding 
generations,  —  and  ask,  is  not  such  a  doctrine  alluded  to  in  Ezek. 
xviii.  2,  "  The  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes,  and  the  children's 
teeth  are  set  on  edge."  And,  again,  in  Ps.  Iviii.  2,  3  :  "  The 
wicked  are  estranged  from  the  womb  :  they  go  astray  as  soon  as 
they  are  born,  speaking  lies.  Their  poison  is  like  the  poison  of  a 
serpent."  Again,  in  Jer.  vii.  19  :  "  Do  they  provoke  me  to  anger  ? 
saith  the  Lord.  Do  they  not  provoke  themselves  to  the  confusion 
of  their  own  faces?"  And,  in  Isa.  iii.  9:  "The  show  of  their 
countenance  doth  witness  against  them,  and  they  declare  their  sin 
as  Sodom  .  They  hide  it  not.  Wo  unto  their  soul  !  for  they  have 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  627 


rewarded  evil  unto  themselves."    Jer.  xiii.  22  :  "If  thou  say  in  thy 
heart,  wherefore  have  these  things  come  upon  me  ?  for  the  great 
ness  of  thine  iniquities  are  thy  skirts  discovered  and  thy  heels 
made  bare."      And  ii.  22:  "For  though   thou  wash   thee  with 
nitre,  and  take  thee  much  soap,  yet  thine  iniquity  is  marked  before 
me,  saith  the  Lord  God."     We  will  not  enter  into  the  examination 
of  this  doctrine  at  present,  but  hasten  to  close  our  view  of  the 
Hebrew  use  of  the  word  1DJ7  ebed.     In  Joel  iii.  2  (ii.  29th  of  the 
English  text)  is  this  remarkable  passage :  "  And  also  upon  the 
servants  (D'"TD#n  ha  ebedim,  the  male  slaves)  and  upon  the  hand 
maids  (fiinfltb'n  hashskephahoth,  the  female  slaves)  in  those  days 
will  I  pour  out  my  Spirit."     This  passage  was  translated  at  Jeru 
salem  by  St.  Peter,  into  Greek.     See  Acts  ii.  18:  "And  on  my 
servants,  and  on  my  hand-maids  (Sovhovg  XOLL  em  rag  5oi&o$), 
will  I  pour  out  in  those  days  my  Spirit," — using  those  Greek 
words  that  most  unconditionally  mean  a  slave,  and  showing  as 
effectually  as  language  can  show,  and    proving   as  distinctly  as 
language  can  prove,  that  St.  Peter  well  understood  these  words  of 
Joel  to  mean  male  and  female  slaves.     He  translates  the  passage, 
referring  to  it,  and  quoting  it.     There  can  have  been  no  mistake. 
Besides,  the  passage  is  rendered  definite  by  its  particularity ;  for 
the  preceding  sentence  avers  that  his  Spirit  should  be  poured  out 
"upon  all  flesh,"  and  goes  on  to  particularize,  "your  sons"  and 
"daughters,"  "your  old  men,"  "your  young  men,"  and  then  in 
this  passage  includes  the  slaves,  thus  explaining  whom  he  means 
by  "all  flesh."     It  was  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  when  the  dis 
ciples  of  Jesus  Christ  "  were  all  with  one  accord  in  one  place,  and 
suddenly  there  came  a  sound  from  heaven  as  of  a  rushing  mighty 
wind,  and  it  filled  all  the  house  where  they  were  sitting;   and 
there  appeared  upon  them  cloven  tongues  like  as  of  fire,  and  it  sat 
upon  each  of  them,  and  they  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Acts  ii.  1,  2,  3. 

Such  were  the  circumstances  under  which  this  translation  was 
made — .just  after  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ.  Circumstances  more 
solemn,  more  imposing,  more  awful  to  the  human  mind  cannot 
well  be  conceived.  In  the  immediate  presence  of  God  the  Father, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  operating  upon  the  mind  of  St.  Peter  ! !  Should 
any  one,  timorous,  decline  to  believe  men,  or  mortals,  permit  us,  in 
the  name  of  that  Jehovah  whose  work  we  all  are,  to  call  their  re 
flection  on  what  may  be  the  nature  of  that  sin  which  contemns, 
denies,  or  treats  as  untruth  the  very  language  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 


628  STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY. 


LESSON  XII. 

THE  Hebrew  noun  ebed  belongs  to  the  declension  of  factitious, 
euphonic  segholate  nouns  of  two  syllables,  with  the  tone  on  the 
penult  and  a  furtive  vowel  on  the  final  : 

Singular  absolute.  Construct  state. 

3$  or  -?3# 


With  light  suffix.  Grave  suffix. 

H3«  DJH31? 

Plural  absolute.  Construct  state. 

H3£. 

Grave  suffix* 


Declined  with  the  personal  pronoun,  thus  : 


Absolute  singular,  ^3$  a  slave. 

Suff.  1.  H.3X  wy  slave. 

2.  m.  ^^3J^  %  slave. 

2.  f.  T]"T3J?  %  slave. 

3.  m.  113  JJ  AM  slave. 
3.  f.  ni^  Aer  slave. 

1.  (plur.)  ^"DJ!  ^^  sfawe. 

2.  m.  D3131?  2/0^^  slave. 

2.  f.  J3*!3^  ^owr  slave. 

3.  m.  E"J31?  ^^'r  slave. 
3.  f.  ;  tAezV  slave. 


*  Termed  grave,  because  they  always  have  the  tone  accent. 


STUDIES   ON   SLAVERY.  629 

• . 
Absolute  plural,         EH^#  slaves. 

Suff.  1.  H5#  mV  slaves. 

2.  m.  ^15#  <%  slaves. 

2.  f.  ^H?#  %  staves. 

3.  m.  V*"O#  his  slaves. 

•t  -c^—. 

3.  f.         JT"Oy  Aer  staves. 

T        v  T  •=•: 

1.  (plur.) } r*O#:  our  slaves. 

2.  m.     Dp^*l!}J^  your  slaves. 

2.  f.        f?H5#  Vour  s^aves- 

3.  m.     Drr*lQ]£  their  slaves. 

3.  f.     jn'"l3#  ^eir  8laves- 

Prefixed  by  a  preposition,  it  will  stand  thus  :   "DJ?3  m,  a*, 
with,  &c.  a  slave ;  or  with  7  thus,  "DJf  /  to'  at->  ^  towar^s^  till, 
until,  &c.  a  slave ;  or,  when  the  word  "TDI?  is  used  as  a  verb,  it 
will  stand  in  place  of  our  infinitive  mood,  thus,  "D#7  to  slave,  as 
in  Num.  iv".  47.    So  this  word  "O^  or  any  form  of  it  may  be  pre 
fixed  by  ID  as  a  contraction  of  JO,  a  preposition  of  various  mean 
ings  or  applications,  as  from,  apart  from,  of,  out  of,  by,  &c.  &c. ; 
and  so  it  may  be  prefixed  by  any  of  the  letters  W?N*n  forming 
the  word  heemanti,  each  prefixed  letter  giving  to  the  root  word 
some  shade  of  meaning,  emphasis,  or  adjective  quality.     So,  also, 
it  may  be  prefixed  by  3,  used  both  as  a  preposition,  and  as  a  con 
junction,  thus,  15J73  as,  so,  according  to,  after,  about,  nearly, 
almost,  &c.  &c.  a  slave.     Hebrew  nouns  may  also  be  prefixed  by 
particles  of  old  obsolete  words,  varying  their  form,  and  exceed 
ingly  so  their  phonetic  representation;   as  for  example,  H07^ 
Shelomah  was  the  son  and  successor  of  King  David.     Now  tS% 
as  the  particle  of  some  ancient  word,  and  followed  by  7,  becomes 
the  sign  of  the  possessive  case ;  but  when  the  word  begins  with 
these  two  letters,  they  then  will  be  duplicated,  as  in  Canticles  iii.  7, 
rioWW    intjp  mittatho  shellishlomoh,  Solomon's  bed,  &c. 
Prepositions,  sometimes  two  or  more,  are,  or  seem  to  be,  com- 


(330  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


pounded,  yet  used  in  the  sense  of  the  last  in  the  compound,  thus : 
fO  and  7tf  used  thus,  ^/p  for  7#,  or  f,p^  for  f  jp,  &c.  &c. 

The  noun  "13 J?.  e^e<^  maj  also  be  prefixed  by  a  conjunction, 
thus,  ""Oyi  and  a  slave,  &c.  &c. 

It  may  also  often  be  compounded  with  other  nouns.  Thus, 
1^ ^"13J7  the  slave  of  G-od.  In  this  manner  the  composition  of 
significant  terms,  and  their  conversion  into  proper  names,  is  unli 
mited  :  thus,  f  n3J£  the  judgment,  or  government  of  a  slave,  and 
made  the  name  of  a  city.  See  Josh.  ii.  30 ;  also  1  Ohron.  i.  59, 
the  74th  of  the  English  text ;  and  hence  the  word  abaddon  has 
been  used  by  some  to  signify  a  place  of  punishment.  We  can 
give  but  a  mere  sketch  of  the  grammatical  formations  and  varia 
tions  of  the  word  ebed;  aware  that  even  such  sketch,  can  be  con 
sidered  of  value  only  by  a  few,  we  refrain  from  even  a  glimpse 
of  its  phonetic  variations  and  peculiarities,  deeming  them  only 
interesting  to  the  advanced  and  more  critical  of  the  proficients  in 
the  language ;  but  we  cannot  refrain  from  giving  a  sketch  of  its 
declension  as  a  verb,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Greek  and  Koman 
scholar. 

Conjugation  of  the  word  12%  as  a  verb,  to  slave,  &c. 

In  KAL. 
Praet.  3.  p.  m. 
3.  f. 

2.  m. 

3.  (plur.) 
2.  m. 

Infinitive  absolute, 
Construct  state, 

Future,  3.  m. 

2.  m. 

3.  (plur.) 

3.  f. 

Imperative,  2.  p.  m. 

2.  f. 

Participle,  act. 
pass. 


STUDIES    ON   SLAVERY.  031 

NlPHAL. 

Praet.  3.  m. 

2.  m. 
Infinitive, 
Future, 
Imperative, 
Participle, 

PIEL,  ( poel,  polel.) 

Praet. 
Infinitive, 
Future, 
Participle, 

PUAL,  (poal,  polal.) 

Praet. 
Infinitive, 
Future, 
Participle, 

HlPHIL. 

Praet.  ^  ?#D 

2.  m. 
Infinitive, 
Future, 
Participle, 

HOPHAL. 

Praet.  "O-K'7 

Infinitive, 

Future, 

Participle, 

HITHPAEL. 
Praet. 
Infinitive, 
Future, 
Participle, 


632 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


••?? 
TO 
'TO 


The  unusual  conjugations  sometimes  found  in  the  form  of  some 
Hebrew  words,  hotlipaal,  pilel,  pulal,  hithpalel,  and  the  Arabic 
iq-talla,  pealal,  pilpel,  and  the  Aramaen  tiphel,  and  the  Syriac 
shaphel,  are  not  known  to  the  writer  to  have  an  example  in  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures  in  the  word  1D#,  and  are  therefore  not  ex 
emplified. 

Paradigm  of!  the  verb  "TJJ?  to  slave,  as  a  1.  guttural  in  KAL. 
Praeter,  singular,  3.  m. 
3.  f. 
2.  m. 
2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Plural,  3.  com. 

2.  m. 
2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Infinitive  absolute, 

Infinitive  construct, 

Imperative,  singular,  m. 
f. 
Plural,  m. 

f. 

Present,  singular,  3.  m. 
3.  f. 

2.  m. 

2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Plural,  3.  m. 

3.  f. 

2.  m. 

2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Pres.  apocope, 

Participle,  active, 
passive, 


rrnbyn 

T     :    i  -:   i- 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


633 


Paradigm  of  the  verb  "OJf  to  slave,  as  a  1.  guttural  in  NIPHAL. 
Praeter,  singular,  3.  m. 
3.  f. 
2.  m. 
2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Plural,  3.  com. 

2.  m. 

2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Infinitive, 
Imperative,  singular,  m. 

f. 
Plural,  m. 

f. 
Present,  singular,  3.  m. 

3.  f. 

2.  m. 

2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Plural,  3.  m. 

3.  f. 

2.  m. 

2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Participle, 

Paradigm  of  the  verb  *T 
or  piel,  (poel,  polel.) 

Praeter,  singular,  3.  m. 

3.  f. 

2.  m. 
2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Plural,  3.  com. 

2.  m. 
2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Infinitive, 


to  slave,  as  a  1.  guttural  in  PIHBL 


(>34  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 

Imperative,  singular,  m. 

f. 

Plural,  m. 
f. 

Present,  singular,  3.  m. 
3.  f. 
2.  m. 

2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Plural,  3.  m. 

3.  f. 

2.  m. 

2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Participle, 

Paradigm  of  the  verb  "O#  to  slave,  as  a  1.  guttural  in  PUHAL. 
(pual,  pool,  polal.) 

Praeter,  singular,  3.  m. 

3.  f. 

2.  m. 
2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Plural,  3.  com. 

2.  m. 

2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Infinitive, 

Present,  singular,  3.  m. 

3.  f. 

2.  m. 

2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Plural,  3.  m. 

3.  f. 

2.  m. 
2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Participle, 


STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


635 


? 


Paradigm  of  the  verb  "O#  to  slave,  as  a  1.  guttural  in  HIPHIL. 
Praeter,  singular,  3.  m. 
3.  f. 
2.  m. 
2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Plural,  3.  com. 

2.  m. 

2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Infinitive, 
Imperative,  singular,  m. 

f . 

Plural,  m. 
f . 
Present,  singular,  3.  m. 

3.  f. 

2.  m. 

2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Plural,  3.  m. 

3.  f. 

2.  m. 

2.  f. 

1.  com. 

Pres.  apocope, 
Participle, 

Paradigm  of  the  verb  "1D1?  to  slavt 
Praeter,  singular,  3.  m. 

3.  f. 

2.  m. 
2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Plural,  3.  com. 

2.  m. 
2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Infinitive, 


as  a  1.  guttural  in  HOPHAL. 


636  STUDIES    ON    SLAVERY. 


Present,  singular,  3.  m. 


Participle, 

Paradigm  of  the  verb  *"OJf  to  slave,  as  a  1.  guttural  in  HITH- 
PAEL. 

Praeter,  singular,  3.  m. 
3.  f. 
2.  m. 
2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Plural,  3.  com. 

2.  m. 

2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Infinitive, 
Imperative,  singular,  m. 

f. 

Plural,  m. 
f. 
Present,  singular,  3.  m. 

3.  f. 

2.  m. 
2.  f. 

1.  com. 


STUDIES   ON  SLAVEHY.  637 


Present,  plural,      3.  m. 

3.  f. 

2.  m. 

2.  f. 

1.  com. 
Participle, 

In  close,  it  may  be  remarked  that  there  is  perhaps  no  Hebrew 
verb  found  in  all  the  forms  of  conjugation  in  the  Holy  Books. 


THE   END. 


f 


f 


y 


p 


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